


Rewind, Replay, Deviate

by Lostiesgirl



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Accidental Kissing, Alien Technology, Alien/Human Relationships, Aliens, And They Call it Puppy Love, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Kissing, Bad Flirting, Bad Puns, Bigger On The Inside, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Female Character of Color, Butterfly Effect, Christmas Special, Comfort Sex, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossing Timelines, Deconstruction, Doctor Who References, Dressed for the occasion, Emotional Roller Coaster, Episode AU: s01e04-05 Aliens of London & World War Three, F/F, F/M, Family Feels, Female Character of Color, Five Stages of Grief, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff and Humor, Forced Relationship, Fun, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Grief/Mourning, Headaches & Migraines, Hispanic Character, Identity Issues, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Jessica jones references, LGBTQ Female Character of Color, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Character of Color, Male-Female Friendship, Marriage Proposal, Movie Reference, Multi, Musical References, Ninth Doctor Era, Not Suitable/Safe For Work, Other, Platonic Kissing, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Problems, Prophetic Visions, Relationship of Convenience, Russia, Self Confidence Issues, Sleep Deprivation, Snark, Social Anxiety, Sonic Screwdriver, Suicidal Thoughts, TV Tropes, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Touch-Starved, Touching, based on personal events, fan in the show world, joking under pressure, mentions of mexican culture, oc in another universe, to download (for UK)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2019-08-29 22:05:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 48,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16752331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lostiesgirl/pseuds/Lostiesgirl
Summary: Leticia Lopez was in a daze after attending the funeral of the man who had helped raise her from birth.  As a result of a crack in time, She fell into another universe, with the Doctor and all the scary nasty-wasty it has to offer. After the grief of losing a loved one, of basically being uprooted again from her way of life without her consent, it'll be a struggle to see if she can adjust to this familiar universe from the telly, or not.





	1. Into the Light

**Author's Note:**

> This is an import from Fanfiction.net. I will primary upload there, then import here at my own time. I would like to say I'm always open to any comments about my work, as I would like for it to be improved upon. 
> 
> Also, the part about Leticia reacting to words in a certain way, she pretty much lived in a different country for several years, yet she was stubborn to adapt, to everything, including words.
> 
> Take that how you like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Notes from the one from the Fan-fiction. net version

 

 

How do you do, guys, gals, and non-binary pals! I started a thing, that technically started since May, but I never found the right words to write down. But certain events, very recent in my life, caused me to rethink things. Life is short, everything ends, and creativity is shun to the garbage because we worry it's not perfect.

* * *

"What if there was a way to escape everything? What if you had a chance at a new life? What, Jack, if you were feeling utterly broken, and somebody - what if somebody was giving you the chance for a break? A break from being broken?"

Torchwood 2.5 Broken, Big Finish audio dramas

* * *

Time stood still at 5:38 pm.

He was alive, and now he wasn't. Just a unmoving body.

She never even managed to make it to say goodbye.

* * *

Leticia Lopez held on to a stitched TARDIS wallet, walking away from the brightly colored cemetery. She stopped at the edge of the road, watching as the cars and mini-buses striped with lines of the various colonias it represented as it zipped pass. She looked back to see if anyone else had followed her. Half satisfied, she walked down the dirt road, in the direction of her home, hidden in plain sight on a busy street in a carved hill.

Throughout the past few days, she stayed strong, at least in front of people. Her mother had been strong for the last week her grandpa was at the hospital, sleeping at his bedside, feeding him, never leaving the hospital. It was Leticia's turn to be the rock, it was only fair.

Leticia pulled back her black hair behind her larger than average ears, the wind starting to pick up. She looked up to see the white painted man-made bridge just up ahead. She passed by a black spray painted phrase 'Mala Loba', contrasting the unnatural white wall.

Out of all the shows she had watched over the past 15 or 18 years of life, Doctor Who was one of the shows that she couldn't see herself not watching. All those stories, the audios, especially series 8 and 9. The show had been with her for almost six years. Clara Oswald had been the companion who she had the longest span of time with. And now Leticia understood, how Clara, and Ten, acted when they lost Danny Pink and Rose Tyler, respectively. The recklessness, how they jumped into danger all too readily. Grief could be expressed in many forms; survivor's guilt, suicidal ideation, even internalized.

Leticia starred blankly at the sky, right in the middle of the bridge. She pulled out bits of paper she saved, wiping her sadness away.

The world was moving on. Her grandfather had so many people for the funeral, but less than half of them were there for the final days, less than that for the month prior.

The young 19 year old took deep breaths. "Dry those eyes, Leti." She told herself, rubbing herself red to clean herself. "Nothing can be done now."

She hugged herself, shivering against the cold, despite wearing all black. Keeping a watchful eye, she kept at a slow pace as she walked up the path to her blue bungalow, the long way around.

What could she do now? She left school twice to take care of that man. She left the United States, where she was born, to help. What the hell was she going to do with her life now? Should she leave? Should she find a sorta rich man who won't abuse her too much, marry into security? She scoffed at that, like she would confident enough to start dating. Helping her great aunts with selling in one of their small allotted huts?

She had too many questions and not enough day to think it through.

She walked past her favorite sitting spot, stopping to observe. It was the edge of a unfenced corner, where people have decided to use as an easy garbage drop. The smell wasn't as disgusting as the wider-than-average sewer grills and the dried up river that smelled like vomit. The spot had a lovely view of about one-third of the city. Of course, from the city that she grew up from, this city felt more like a mishmash of rural and stacked together houses. She could also see the clouds move past against the lush green mountains that surrounded the city, like she was on a very big island, it made them feel more tangible, being against a darker color. The quiet also helped, being surrounded by birdsong and the occasional voice shouting in the distance.

The reason she stopped wasn't for the view, even with the high noon sun, or even to sit down, which she should do at she had been walking for half an hour, and the tree, planted nearby, shaded her favorite spot. She stopped because, on the opposite side of the street, a brown patch of earth, was a familiar crack in the wall, that wasn't there before.

Leticia shifted her string notebook backpack, pulling out her tiny smartphone. She tapped her camera app, and took a picture of the crack.

"Thank you universe, the crack during that thunder storm in Chicago, wasn't spooky enough, or that unearthed Van Gogh painting with the TARDIS." She took a couple of more pictures at different angles. She sadly smiled in satisfaction at the last picture, as she apparently managed to get a reflection from the sun, that made it appear that the crack was glowing.

Leticia frowned. She counted up to five, and when she did, she moved away her phone from her line of sight. "Fecking hell."

Of all days, it had to be today. It had to appeared to the one hardcore Whovian this side of the mountains.

She looked around the lonely road. She briefly wondered if someone had the bright idea to touch the crack. Maybe they did and she had forgotten them. She pulled her hand away.

She should go, not entertain a fantasy that she would be sucked through a crack and end up in Doctor Who, the more likely result would be being erased from existence, IF that crack really is in the skin of the universe.

She huffed. She was psyching herself up yet again. A cigar was just a cigar, and a crack was a crack. And if she was erased, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

Leticia Lopez firmly touched the crack, her hand bathed in an eerie light.

* * *

The next thing Leticia felt was pain, asthe head of a OC companions community page isn't good for one's sanity. Especially in finding a good story for the page. She walked inside the console room.

she collided with a small body, both of them falling to the floor. She let out a yelp, clutching her side. A little bit of her cinnamon-infused coffee came back to her mouth.

"Don't shoot, that's an order!" She heard a startling familiar voice shout, accompanied by running noises. Leticia blinked, her vision blurring back to an acceptable normal, and noticed a bunch of green camouflage wearing soldiers with red berets, pointing guns at her direction.

She's wasn't the type of girl to cause trouble. Hell, she wanted to half the time, but her mother or her grandfather usually persuade her not to. 'You'll end up being harmed yourself,' her mom would say, in a mixture of Spanish and English, 'You ever so much as smile at a boy - look at him in the eyes for three seconds, they will kidnap you, take you into the mountains, and chain you into being their slave,' She remembered hearing her grandfather say a couple of times, in Spanish.

Leticia raised her arms in a placating manner. "No killing!"

The soldiers complied, lowering their guns.

A sound of a pig snorting, caused Leti to instantly turn her head in the direction of the noise. There, not only she found a standing pig, in a wetsuit, trying to dust itself off, but a man dressed in a leather jacket, sporting a buzzcut hairstyle. Another blink, and she realized who it was.

Leticia blinked. "Okay..." She lowered her arms.

"Leave the civilian in peace," The Ninth Doctor said, with a relieved smile on his face. " can't you tell she's a bit lost?"

"Sir..." One of the white men spoke up. "She appeared out of nowhere, out of a light, in the _middle_ of the air!" His voice raised with each fragment.

The man looked down at Leticia for a second, his face unreadable, and looked back to the solder in question. "No worries, I'll take over from here." He looked back at Leticia, his gaze softening. "Can you stand?"

The young 19 year old didn't trust her voice around her third favorite New Who Doctor so she nodded. The growing headache and the bright lights weren't helping in her speaking out.

"Come on." He beckoned her.

Leticia stood on her feet, glancing back once at the group of soldiers, and walked to the Doctor's side. How was she here? Well, of course, the crack somehow transported her to the Whoniverse, like how a blue pulsing fake looking portal transports someone to the Channel Awesome verse, or that sliders device transport someone to very similar universes with John Rhys Davis. But why transport her to the middle of 'Aliens of London'? In a season that almost no one talks about since certain people think it's better to skip Nine and head for the wildly moody brooding Tenth Doctor, the hot mess of the Doctors, as some would say. She had a few choice words about his era.

The Doctor walked with confidence as they walked on ahead, bypassing the group of soldiers. Leticia looked back in confusion, the group of soldiers that still remained, she saw mirroring the same reaction. He stopped, his head swerving around. Leticia looked down at the walking pig, who followed them. "So, where are we heading?"

"Special transport." He said briskly. He walked straight on ahead, Leticia and the pig followed. At this point in the episode, The Doctor would have been to talking to Torchwood Tosh about Victorian Mermaids, desecrated animal corpses dressed up with a tail and a wig to be dead fishy hybrids. They had the talk over the pig's corpse, the pig having died back in the hallway...

She had been in this universe for five minutes, and she managed to change one thing, two things since the pig didn't die, The Doctor had no sound reason to go back to Tosh, since with the pig alive, he could check out his physiology on the TARDIS. And Tosh would never properly meet the Doctor before her death.

She opened and closed her hand, massaging out the ache from where she fell on it. Of course, maybe because of her, Tosh probably won't die in series two of Torchwood.

The fangirl mentally berated herself, she wasn't that important to make that big an impact in five minutes.

The Doctor opened a door, revealing a old looking room with red benches. 'Fecking fantastic', one step closer to the farting maniacal aliens. She felt a hoof touching her hand, she turned to see the pig, wearing the mimic of a smile. Well, having a walking pig friend wasn't quite how that saying goes, but she was in Doctor Who, almost anything goes; pink clouds travelling the universe for orgasms, space vultures as the undertakers, death via flower petals, a whole planet devoted to a bank. If only the universe had dropped her off at Eleven or Twelve, or maybe even the Eighth Doctor's timeline. Unless she might travel there soon ala Danni Fielding or Rhea Sunehri.

Dear Lord, that would be insanely stressful.

The Doctor opened the door, revealing a blue box in the supply closet. "Might be in for a bit of a shock."

Leticia already had over 11 shockers in the past few days, but this one was something she was entirely prepared for. And a certain dashing Doctor with a blue sonic screwdriver had a great ' introduction' that she was going to homage hers to. "Okay, then." She sighed, masking her burgeoning grin.

The Doctor opened the door to his TARDIS and headed inside. The pig followed suit.

Leticia took a deep breath. First impressions are important, and she doesn't want to screw it up by falling into the grate floor as soon as she walked in. 'Granted, The Doctor isn't Christian Grey,' She shuddered at the thought, 'Thank all the gods for that. And hopefully there's no chance that she ended up in a universe with Lilly Brooks' Doctor.' Being

The words Leticia wanted to say died on her lips. There was something about seeing it in person that put things into perspective. The first time for heavy petting, a baby puppy following you home, and the TARDIS control room. The room was lit with warm lighting, complimenting the coral-like structures around the grating floor. She could see the wiring under the floor, reminding her of how real this TARDIS was, that it's a machine, that can do almost anything. More than a television show could show. Leticia could see an actual hallway, off to her left, where there's the other half of the control room, instead of a studio crew, that kept up the coral theme. The room smelled like sweet pumpkin, cold air, and something different, but familiar all the same, like smelling something that takes you back to a place when one was younger. And body odor.

She turned around to close the door, raising a arm close enough to smell. Great.

"Are you going to stand around there all day?" Leticia frowned, hearing the distant voice of the Doctor. She looked on to see the Doctor sonicing Piggy, who was seating on the cream color van car seat. She glanced down near his nice rear bumper.

'And they called it puppy love... No, bad brain! Not going through that!' "This room is..."

"Go on," The Doctor suggested. "Get it over with."

"So much bigger on the inside." She quietly finished, glancing back at the Doctor. Leticia wondered why there were so many jokes about his big ears, they aren't an oddity. They looked the same as her grandfather's. Her excitement at seeing the ship faded, remembering the last time she saw her grandfather's ears move by themselves. "So, what happens now?"

The Doctor moved some steps backwards, Leticia followed suit. The pig jump down from the seat, snorting worriedly. "Well, Harry Plopper here has to go to the med bay."

Leticia frowned, a stray memory of her grandfather taking her miles away in his blue van to see the Simpsons movie. "What for?"

"He was created, made to stand like a human. The strain on his spine and feet when they're weren't made to move like a biped, he needs to rest."

Her mind flashed back to her grandfather's hospital bed, his open glazed eyes. "Got it. Don't worry, little guy." Leticia held out her hand. The pig took it in his hand, or hoof. She held on as they walked to the room, squeezing his hoof in reassurance.

* * *

Leti sat down on a yellow chair near Piggy's bed, winded by helping him onto it. It was strange, she was getting used to seeing a pig walking upright. Must be a desensitization effect, brought on by new things that make a heart race. She sadly smiled at Piggy. This was the closest contact she had been to a person out of her family in three years.

"So, do you have anybody?" Leticia asked Piggy.

"Of course I do." The Doctor answered a few feet away, setting up some sort of scanner. She wasn't paying too much attention, he probably knew what he was doing.

'Right, Rose Tyler. _Hoo boy_.' ""Not you. Talking to Piggy!" Leticia jerked her head at the lying creature. "Assuming that he can understand me."

The Doctor repeated her question. The pig made noise in reply.

"He is the last survivor of his family, the rest were slaughtered right in front of him. He ran away, to be as far away from them, and he ended up bumping into big green things with claws. The last thing he remembered was waking up in the spaceship, before it crashed."

A shiver crept up her spine. "Broken Big Ben. You must have been terrified!" Leticia looked back at Piggy, caressing its hoof. Long way from home, seeing their family die, and stuck somewhere they didn't want to be. "I kinda get what you're going through. That doesn't sound like much, I know, but you aren't alone in this." She looked back at the Ninth Doctor, always careful to not fully look him in the eyes. "You got this fella who's all to happy to help!"

"This fella has a name!"

"You never said, though!" It felt nice, talking to someone, bantering. She never had much banter, other than with her 14 year old uncle. Then, when she got older, they had less topics to banter about.

"The Doctor, there you go."

The former shut-in was tempted to try a cheeky joke, but it felt wrong to use the really cheeky ones from the TV. "Leticia Lopez, there _you_ go."

"Hung around Lex Luther or Lois Lane recently?"

"Nah, been years since I've been a fan of Superman stuff. Big fan of Jessica Jones, and Lena Luther ." Who have thunk it? The Doctor is a superhero geek! Among the growing pile of genuine geekiness.

"Pretty sure Lena counts as Superman stuff."

"Well, she's been on Supergirl recently, as Kara's possible girlfriend, so not technically. Then again, Clark Kent was in the first two episodes, so I guess it does in a way count."

"Could you talk about the caped heroes behind me?"

Leticia frowned, opening her mouth to say something, then she heard a slight humming noise, coming from the machine the Doctor was powering on. She quickly headed over to the Doctor's side. The blue green tinted screen started to glow, filtering the room to more of a green. With one press of a button, it made a noise, very similar to a taking a picture with a handheld camera.

She blinked a couple of times, seeing the echo of the bright light for several seconds.

"This might take a while." The Doctor muttered, his eyes searching the picture it had taken.

Her eyes coming to semi-normal levels, One squinting glance at the insides of Piggy's, and she quickly turned away. "Are you going to need help in the next few minutes?"

"No."

"Okay. Is there a bathroom on this ship?"

"Turn left and open the nearest door."

"Thank you." Leticia walked to the sliding doors, and headed to relieve herself. It wasn't like she was going to have another chance, if she ended up trapped in the equivalent of the White House for a night.

* * *

Leticia rubbed the back of her neck, as she looked at her reflection in a very clean mirror. Slight bags were forming on her eyes, her teeth were the same as always. She eyed the medicine cabinet, and looked for some Aspirin. Her fingers landed on the Paracetamol. Good enough. She looked around for a cup, realizing she wasn't in her own box, where she could find everything, she was in an alien bathroom, where everything is clean and brightly lit, and no sight of any cups to take a stress relieving pill!

She harshly wiped away the stray tears. She couldn't. Not right now, especially since The Doctor probably won't let her stay on the ship for the duration of the con family green claws two parter. Newbie that came from another universe, if he knew that last bit, who knows how he would react. Well, she had a couple ideas.

She sat down on the closed toilet, her hands fumbling for her wallet to take out her used cream plastic lid, and started to chew on the edges, in an effort to calm down. Everything felt possible from the confines of her blue box, that her mother and her grandfather created for them to live in, where she helped in picking the TARDIS blue color to paint on the wood, now she might have an adventure, where she might see people die, and aliens, who killed people to live in their skin, all for money.

"Fake it 'till you make it." She told herself. She just needed to live through the next couple of hours and then... she'll think of something when the time comes. "Be like Claire Nichols, stay strong, until she got used to being used by that asshat Tony, until it broke her, and had her separated from her daughter. And Claire in that institute, all shut out from the world." Well, that was something else she needed to live for; get past the prologue of the third book in the Consequences series, and finish it.

She stood up straight. "Keep calm, stay strong, and ... And something." Leticia glanced at the cabinet from her the sink. "Ugh, I hate you." She opened the cabinet door. A sly smile appeared on her face. "Fantastic!"

* * *

A half an hour later, The Doctor frowned at his readings. He finished scanning Piggy, as Leticia had coined to their mutual friend, and had helped rest comfortably. He was relieved at her leaving to the loo, as the results of the full body scan still shook him. Whatever those aliens were, they were highly skilled, in grafting body parts of a pig, almost seamlessly. It would have fooled the average human, it fooled Leticia. If it wasn't for the small adult spine, of a dwarfed human born male.

Speaking of Leticia, she seemed to have a remarkable ability to wander off, like most humans would. She found herself in one of the restocked kitchens, filled with human food. She must have not have eaten much before the poor girl was brought to this dimension

He figured it out early on, his highly keen senses smelled a mixture of void particles, having to have seal a couple tears in the fabric of the universe, over a lifetime ago, and residual artron energy, even before she boarded the ship, along with the smell of nervous sweat and tears.

He debated turning on the microphone, to tell her to hurry up. He could afford some time, they were in the Vortex, he having moved them there a few moments ago. How was he going to explain this to Rose when he goes back to the Estate? This girl appeared, out of the light, in the middle of the air, from another dimension. The question now is; how would he proceed from here?

* * *

I am out of sync with writing, and my latest works have been a bit lackluster, on ff. I wrote a few smaller ones, and they just seems off, to me. Yes. I know, before that day, for almost a year, it all felt lackluster.

I hope that I can finish the rest of my work, this side piece and the main one that has been a year, that I had to rewrite three times because it didn't felt right (no wonder RTD use animals for aliens), a year since I posted a new chapter. I haven't abandoned that fic. If the fanfic about the Beatles managed to span about 30 years, having the fab four with powers, and alien planets, then I can afford some time between chapters. It's called Stuck in Another universe, and I really hope to finish it someday.

Also, The consequences series is a very dark sorta not really romantic novel series. It sorta grows on you. Then you end up getting the second book and trying to see how Claire is going to get out of her circumstances. And then there's this mystery element. It really sucks you in, despite a few things, you will know what they are as soon as you read the first chapter.

* * *

 

Also, new notes, I hope to see if I can maybe fix it later on. 

 

 

 


	2. An awkward meeting

 

 

 

 

 

  


 

 

* * *

"Her name was River Song. They were together for a while and they were very happy. And then she died, a long time ago, in a library."

"Are you sure he's going to be all right?"

"He's the Doctor. He's very brave and he's very silly and I think, for a time, he's going to be very sad. But I promise, in the end, he'll be all right. I'll make sure of it. Bye!"

Doctor who 10x0 The return of Doctor Mysterio

* * *

Leticia walked through the hallway back to the control room. Hopefully, since the TARDIS had mentioned, when she was turned human briefly, that the comment about companions being strays, wouldn't hinder her into not helping the young 19 year old. Her light stringed notebook shaped backpack lightly hitting her back, straining against the new items inside.

Then again, she was hostile to Clara in her first series. On the other hand, she was fine with letting her open the TARDIS doors with a snap of her fingers. And piloting the TARDIS.

She pulled out her cream lid from her mouth, and returned it to her wallet, wiping it on the edge of it on one of her long sleeves. Somehow she found a spray deodorant that smelled like Lilies, which helped immensely. Being stuck in a box wasn't a new thing for her, but sharing one for a whole night, with people she had known from the TV, that was scary.

During her search for the vinegar, she had thought more about the first series. How relatively low key it was compared to the rest of the New series to follow. That man was going to Gallfrey someday, and leave it all behind because he had fallen madly in love with Clara Oswald. Toxially so, that they had to be separated for their own good.

He was going to find himself in a timey wimey relationship with River Song. Well he did met her before she died, at the Library, in his eighth face. And probably a couple more faces before, if the games count in her timeline. And the audios. She smiled at the thought that Six was going to fancy the great River!

He gained a family with the Ponds, manipulated them, lost their child, made Amy shoot her child, only to lose them in a way that would be impossible to save them via the TARDIS.

He found a best friend in Donna Noble, only to kill the person she became, letting her live her life as it was before warping into the TARDIS.

He compared Martha Jones to a woman he put on a pedestal, and knew the whole time that she fancied him, never stopping it. She was one of the lucky ones.

He got himself too attached to Rose Tyler, fell for her, died for her, changed his body to match her, disregarded her choices, both of them changed near the end. Almost as bad as Twelve and Clara.

He embodied the term Coward, when he left Jack on his own, without a goodbye.

How long was she going to stay in this universe, without ending up like them? Especially if she ended up staying throughout Ten's run. That incarnation is horrible at keeping a companion for more than one year. The unluckier ones barely an hour.

Her hand itched for her tiny phone, something comforting to hold on to, but she grabbed the other phone, with a cracked screen, out of her pocket. She had found it out of the blue, near the old white concrete bridge that was located near the entrance of her colonia, all those months ago. Odd for a phone from Mexico, the settings were in English, there was no SIM card nor an SD card.

It wasn't entirely strange, for a city in Mexico that isn't Mexico City, there's a lot of people who are practicing English. She used to tutor a bit when she was at school, of course she had to repeat her words, for her benefit as well as theirs.

But something about that cracked phone... Something she was forgetting.

She stopped near the end of the hallway, right where the control room, and probably the Doctor, was. 'Stop overthinking things!' She heard her mother's voice ringing in her head. Sure, it might have been about walking to the nearest payphone to recharge her SIM card, but she was also right in this case.

She could only move forward from here. Keep calm, stay strong, and hold on.

"Hello again." She stopped right at the entrance, where Nine was currently folding his arms and staring at her. She couldn't suppress a shiver, and a grin. "I figured you got lost finding the loo."

"Nah, found it interesting there wasn't a tub or a showerhead in the bathroom, but bigger on the inside blue box, that really shouldn't be the most surprising thing." Well that definitely sounded like she hadn't talked to a English person that she hadn't had to devolved into Spangish. Fecking fantastic. Leticia walked into the control room. Still majestic, in its organic coral. "How's Mr. Piggy?"

The Doctor frowned behind Leticia's back. Humans, especially those who have been grieving need some sort of sign, that the world could move on to something better, so could her.

"He's resting, that's what he needed the most."

"Oh, okay." Leticia circled back to sit on the jumpseat. She felt at ease sitting, her leg was a bit sore after having fallen. She checked earlier, no cuts or misplaced bone, just a pain. "So, given I apparently diffused a harmful shooting of a harmless creature, care to fill me in how that ended up happening?"

Should the Doctor explain? He could always let her sleep in one of the rooms, a simple suggestive command would do it. Then again, he had no idea as to how many days this issue would be resolved. For all he knew, she could wake up and wander off into the Eye of Harmony. Call it pragmatic idealism, but she at least deserves one chance to prove herself. "We're heading to London, 2006. That's the place where you appeared from. We're not going back to the exact place. It'll be somewhere quieter. Sorta." He hoped that the people had finished their celebrating, but, given that he was only traveling about 27 or so minutes ahead, that seemed unlikely.

She tensed up. Leticia Lopez was going to meet Rose Tyler. It wasn't that she was the worst companion ever, Adam had the top spot for that, and probably Tamsin. Maybe that funny actual robot too. She liked Rose, in the first series, when she was starting out, and was called out on her actions a lot more often. Series two on the other hand...

It's a mixed bag when it came to the pink and yellow girl from Peckham.

"Did you came from the same year?"

"No. 2016. November 25th."

Nine tilted his head in a way that seemed like he was doing a Sherlock. "Ahh, one of those years."

"Yeah, yeah. Really crummy. Some months were bad, the others were just there. I came from Mexico. Well, I moved there. It's a complicated thing."

"Even more complicated when it's in a different dimension."

"Part of that, yea-" Leticia Lopez frowned, and looked at his eyebrows intently. For Nine apparently having a thick head, he's caught on to a lot of things quickly. "How?"

"'Out of the light, in the middle of the air.' Tears in the fabric of the universe tends to do that." He tapped his nose. "I should know, I fixed a couple."

"And, you're not-" She stopped herself. She may have certain feelings for the Doctor, especially Nine. But she knew what he was capable of. He brought down the good prime minister with a repeating meme, he committed genocide over and over. He would disregard his best friend's feelings and block her mind of anything that had to do with him. He would almost do the same for one of his soulmates. And that was just the stuff she had watched on the show. She wasn't going to give him any ideas. Over thinking may be her thing, but her grandfather had comforted her the best he could, and that included keeping a paranoid mind. It wasn't like the Doctor knew everything. "But you didn't see it! So how?"

"When you were tending to our mutual friend, I scanned you as a warm up. Found quite a bit of those extra bits indicating a extradimentional traveler."

"Oh." There goes tip toeing through the tulips. "I," She took the opportunity to clean the sweat of her mouth. "And you never asked my permission?"

Nine started to look uncomfortable. "It wouldn't 'ave harmed you!"

"It's still good manners!" She blinked her eyes rapidly, feeling her eyes starting to water. Her grandfather was starting to be more righter that she thought. She pulled out a piece of toilet paper to dab the edge of her eyes. That wasn't helping. "Next time, ask me, if you're going to do something that has to do with me, personally. I don't have a lot in this universe, at least give me some honesty."

The Doctor clasped his hands and looked at her, deliberately not trying to look at her eyes. "Where I'm heading, it won't be safe, and it won't be quiet. So, you can still stay behind, if you want."

Leticia shook her head. She may be grieving, for a lot of things, but she wanted to go do something productive, even if it will result her in staying in another box for a night. "I'm done being the girl that waits in the castle for a knight in shinning armor. If it's alright with you?"

The Doctor nodded in agreement. "No wandering off, and if I'm not around, you need to stick by Rose."

"Rose?" 'Are you kidding me? I'm only 19 for a few more weeks! Come on!' "Is it the name of the blue box?" She reminded herself of that face, from one of her favorite fictional characters, to not have one of those knowing smiles on her own face that happened almost everytime she tried for a big lie. "Sounds better on a more pink and red color."

"No," He smiled in amusement. "It's called the TARDIS, that's stands for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space."

"Of course it does." Leticia looked up at the ceiling. "It's a box of amazing. Also, bit of a coincidence that it all managed to make an actual word, unlike NASA or other second thing?"

"Alright, time to show you the wonders that this universe has to offer!" He frowned, his mind coming back to an pressing issues. "As soon as We figure out why would someone fake a crash in the middle of London." The Doctor strided to the control panel. He allowed a frown to pass, he was sure he was missing something.

"Yipee." She shifted her shoulder to feel the bottle against her back, to reassure herself. She pulled out her tiny phone to check on the saved transcripts for almost all the episodes she had from the new series. Her being a hoarder was paying off pretty well.

* * *

"What're you two chimps going on about?" Jackie Tyler asked of the two recently reunited pair, Mickey Smith and Rose Tyler. "What's going on? What's this Doctor done now?"

Mickey laughed in a way that almost seemed like a chortle. "He's vamoosed!"

"He's not!" Rose protested, holding out the TARDIS key the Doctor had given her earlier. "Because he gave me this!" Mickey shrugged and made a disparaging noise. "He's not my boyfriend, Mickey. He's better than that, he's much more important than you-" She stopped mid sentence, seeing the key starting to glow a bright gold. Some part of her thought that it was going to start melting, like Mickey's plastic head all those hours ago. Had it only been hours for her?

And then she heard it. That amazing sound that she heard when she said no on traveling with the Doctor, after saving London from the alien plastic. She wondered what would of happened if she stayed, without hearing of him again. She brushed the thought aside. "I said so."

She quickly moved to her mother. "Mum! Mum! Go inside!" Her mother was looking at the spot the TARDIS was. "Mum, don't just stand there, just go inside! Mum, go. Oh blimey." She frowned at the slowly appearing blue box, and moved back with her mother.

As it fully appeared, Mickey pointed at Rose, then at the TARDIS, self satisfaction evident in his body language.

"How you do that then?" Jackie asked, in awe.

Rose internally debated on whether to go inside or not, it only took a few seconds to take that chance. She went to the blue box and opened the doors and went inside, walking up the metal grates. She was starting to get used to the bigger on the inside aspect of the TARDIS, but it was still amazing in how it looked. The Doctor was busy checking the monitor for something. A girl sitting on the jumpstart who looked like she belonged in a cemetery.

She stopped in her tracks.

There was a pale, dark haired sorta bob-styled girl, dressed in all black, seated on the jumpstart, holding a small mobile, looking at it intently.

No wonder he went off wandering. "Who's she?"

* * *

Leticia looked up to see Rose Tyler frowning at her, the Doctor looking at Rose,, and right through the doorway, Jackie Tyler and Mickey Smith looking inside.

' Oh Fecking crap.' "Hiya..." She slightly waved with her hand.

"She was lost and I found her, when I went and had a look. The whole crash landing's a fake. It felt too perfect, I mean hitting Big Ben!"

"'S nice. It is." Rose said, glancing back to Leticia. "Cause my Mum's here."

Leticia stood up to see Mickey and Jackie, walking up the TARDIS grate floor, to Nine. "Nice to meet you two." She said hesitantly. She may of had practice talking in English, talking back to her TV and her tablets had helped greatly, but she still felt self conscious that someone was going to make a sharp remark about how odd she sounded that Leti was inevitably going to take to heart. She side eyed Rose, remembering the 'Gay' comment.

"Oh that's just what I need." The Doctor said, turning to Rose. "Dont you dare make this domestic!"

Leticia frowned at how it looked, the body language between Nine and Rose, like they already were a couple. The whole thing felt so 90s Disney.

"Too late, I think." Rose moved back to face her mother, and Mickey.

"I second that motion." Leticia agreed with Rose, moving closer to the cluster of people.

"What's happened to you?" Jackie asked the poor girl, looking her over. The malnourished girl met her stare, but not directly, frowning as she did so. She had seen her fair of Goths and emos, given her job as a flat hairdresser, with Veronica and Jason Dean appearing every so often. Not really much of a talkative sort. But that American girl, with that look in her eyes, those harsh bags under them. She doesn't even wear makeup to hide them! "What's he done to you?"

"Nothing." Leticia shook her head, trying her best not to look into her eyes. "He hasn't done anything, except helping me! I don't have anywhere else to go."

"Where are your parents? You're a bit young-"

"I'm nearly 20!" She felt her palms starting to sweat, her heart starting to pound. Leticia looked away from Jackie and went back to her seat. Who was she kidding? Trying to help, better she take up Nine's offer of staying on board while she still had a chance.

"You see what I mean?" Nine questioned, probably to Rose, Leticia wasn't looking. "Domestic. And she was just starting to come out of her shell."

"Was she in the crash?" Rose looked down at the girl, who was her age. It was clear that the girl doesn't respond well talking to people, sounding all quiet.

"No, she just appeared, saving a pig from being killed."

"What?" Rose smiled in disbelief. Now that was amazing,!

Jackie looked around the room as her daughter, her own child, was talking with that man, and her eyes settled on the poor girl with no home. With one last look at Rose, she turned around for the exit.

"Mum?" Rose ran for the door, turning back to the Doctor. "I'll be a minute!"

When Rose slammed the door, Leticia looked up from the transcript. She changed the scene. Going in, she wasn't expecting to be a fly on the wall. But she had misremembered what it was like talking to people outside her family, without typing out in an IM. "That was odd."

Mickey Smith scoffed. "Yeah, you're telling me." He pointed a finger at the Doctor."Doctor, you ruined my life. I was a murder suspect because of you."

Both the Doctor and Leticia looked at the man. "Well, you're not in prison, are you?" She frowned at Nine's back. Sometime she wondered if Nine was rude to Mickey because he was already fancying Rose. Or just because he's rude to pudding brains in general.

"I bet you don't even remember my name!"

"It's Ricky, right?" The Doctor looked at the young man.

"Oh my goodness." She found the urge to face palm.

"It's Mickey."

"No, it's Ricky."

"I think I know my own name!"

"You think you know your own name. How stupid are you?"

"Oye!" Leticia waved her hands in front of them, almost forgetting she had her tiny phone in her hand. "It's Mickey, he's saying it's Mickey, at least respect that's his name, if you don't respect the man and leave it! Solo!"

Both of them looked at her. She averted looking them in the eyes and sat back down again, back to her phone. If she kept this up, she would get used to people in about 20 or 30 years from now.

And to think, he was going to go on to do the same thing to Me in his future. Yeah, her first name was pretty memorable. But she changed it. Even if it makes talking with her a bit of a challenge.

"Are you an alien?" Leti looked up to see Mickey standing only a few feet away.

Where is Rose? She glanced at Nine, but he seemed busy checking something on his monitor. Since he hadn't had the chance to do so before rescuing her and Piggy. "No... But I have been called that in grade school once or twice. In a different context."

"Yeah, no. I mean, a proper alien."

"You mean like the grey skinny body ones with the childlike eyes? Nah, just human. Human as can be. Thought, I guess you can call me an illegal universe immigrate. So, alien in a way." It was too bad Mickey hadn't said yes to traveling with the Doctor, he probably would have ended up like Rory.

Rose came running through the door, like a wolf was on her heels. "That was a real spaceship!" She reached the Doctor's side.

"Yup." Nine said, popping his 'p'. Leticia widen her eyes at that. A trait that carried over a regeneration, who have thunk it?

Rose glanced at Mickey, who seemed to be quite chummy with the girl." So it's all a pack of lies? What is it, then? Are they invading?"

Mickey and Leticia walked over to the pair, both itching to see the screen. "Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert."

"Good point!" The Doctor looked at Mickey in a way that reminded Leti of that old saying, 'stopped clock is right twice a day'. " So, what're they up to?"

Leticia looked at the footage of the parked Sleedeen spaceship, the famous Big Ben slightly smoking from the hit, probably taken from a really high definition webcam with no delay that just so happened to aim near the Thames. Or a parked drone. Were they invented at this point in time?

"Also, funny thing, despite it zooming around, hitting Big Ben, it managed to land pretty well. No water damage, or any broken stuff, far as I can tell." Leticia pointed at the screen.

"Also good point!" The Doctor moved away from the control panel and crouched down to the grates. "Give me a hand, won't you?"

Leticia obliged and helped the Doctor moved the grate off to the side. The Doctor carefully went inside the patch of the open grate and started to move around so that he was lying down, his shoes touching the end of the grates. Leti glanced back at Mickey, who was on the opposite side of her. She thought back to her numbers, her safety numbers, and that gave her the strength to pull out her second, cracked phone.

"How about a lightin' hand?" She tried her best at a Texan accent.

"As long as you don't make that accent again, I'll accept it." The Doctor said before wrapping the sonic screwdriver with his lips.

Leticia turned on her flashlight app, trying not to grin with her teeth showing. "I won't make the accent, in front of you again."

Nine nodded in agreement, while he worked on patching in the radar for the Green giant spaceship and possibly the local channels.

"So what are you doing down there?" Mickey looked at the Doctor.

"Ricky." The Doctor's voice was muffled with the sonic, and possibly also collecting metal stained spit in his mouth.

"Mickey."

The Doctor pulled out his sonic from his lips and jerked his head so he was facing the little thorn at his side. "Ricky. If I was to tell you what I was doing to the controls of my frankly magnificent time ship, would you even begin to understand?"

"I suppose not."

"Shut it then." The Doctor grinned happily, put the sonic back in his mouth and went back to his work.

Leticia watched as Mickey moved away, sharing a look with him. "Rude." She moved to her knees, to angle the light in a way to not directly hit his eyes.

"Talkative." He said through his sonic occupied mouth.

Leticia frowned, checking out her music app. "A huge fan of talking. Just haven't talked to a person in my first language in a long while." The song that played was one she had paused on.

'Hey, that's far out so you heard him too!

Switch on the TV

We may pick them up on channel two.'

The Doctor chuckled.

"What?" Her voice a whisper, not wanting to interrupt Mickey and Rose time.

"I heard that song," He pulled out the sonic, wiping part of it on his sweater. " 'bout a half hour ago, in those estates that are right outside the door."

Leticia's smile soften, remembering why she recorded the song. "I got it the day I found he died. Bowie." She clarified. "One of the first major deaths of the year. Really liked him, and most of his movies. The songs weren't half bad either."

The Doctor moved on to sonicking. "He died in the first month here as well."

'Look out your window I can see his light

If we can sparkle, he may land tonight

Don't tell your poppa or he'll get us locked up in fright.'

Leticia shifted herself, so that she was sitting Indian-style on the grates. "It's nice to know that 2016 is a crap year here too. Some things don't change in between universes."

"It's a fine year! Not all death and misery."

Leticia looked back at the few good moments she had in the year. "Fair enough. Everyone has a pile of good things and bad things. But, a certain future leader might make this year look like roses and sunshine."

'There's a Starman waiting in the sky

He'd like to come and meet us

But he thinks he'd blow our minds

There's a Starman waiting in the sky

He's told us not to blow it

'Cause he knows it's all worth while'

"2006, not 2016. Time travel, different set of rules."

"So long away." She blinked, trying not to remember to much of what happened in 2006. "I should be ten this year. What month is this?"

"March 5th, 2006."

"Love a five. It's a good number. Right, around that time, I was in the middle of watching season 5 of Smallville, live. My first fandom."

He grinned at that. "You were Nine?"

'You were too', she wanted to say. "Grew up a bit faster."

"Superhero geek."

"Well, it's always been a part of me. And probably always will. It's a way to escape while feeling powerful. Feeling that hope. Always wanted to feel like that."

The Doctor grinned as he finished up his rewiring. "You're full of stories, aren't you?"

Leticia raised her eyebrows in amusement. Happy early Christmas for her! A real life talking living friend! " I guess I am. Hadn't really thought my life was worth a telling around the campfire."

"When you're me, almost everyone is worth telling a story around a campfire, probably even Rickey Rouse over there."

"Mickey Mouse!" Leticia widen her eyes as she realised what she corrected. "Which isn't his last name!"

" Got it!" The Doctor's sentence was punctuated by a swift move upwards. Leticia quickly turned off her phone to help the Doctor move the grate back. "Ha, ha!"

'He told me

Let the children lose it

Let the children use it

Let all the children boogie.'

"Give him a metal!" Leticia looked back to see Mickey and Rose standing next to each other, very closely, both looking flustered. "And maybe to you two." She tried looking but not really looking since she didn't want to thinking about them doing the tongue tango. Or probably the tongue two-step. Seeing hot rear ends were more than enough for her to handle, thank you very much.

She glanced back at Nine, but he didn't seemed to noticed that his TARDIS was a snog box for a minute, smiling more in relief than in sadness, and moved to his monitor.

"So," Leticia quickly turned off her music. "What did the great Magician do?"

"Doctor." He stressed.

"Doctor Magician." 'Its not as ridiculous as Doctor Disco.' "You're not Cher or Beyonce, there has to be at least a last name, so therefore Doctor Magician."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows but wisely did not banter further. "Anyway, patched in the radar, looped it back twelve hours so it followed the flight of that space ship, here we go." While Rose walked over to see the screen, Leticia motioned Mickey over to see it as well. Mickey just shrugged his shoulders in disagreement.

"Hold on." A flash of a hand and a shaky computer monitor caused Leticia to shift to the screen, where the Doctor probably tried the old 'hitting the monitor even thought it only see stuff' trick. "Come on!"

"Gonna break it like that."

"That's the spaceship." The Doctor pointed at the White dot that supposed to represent the spaceship. On the whole, the radar seemed a lot less flashy than Leti expected from a time ship like the TARDIS, even if it is a Type 42. All blues and white. Kinda like the same shade that she had thought up for that portal for her Doctor who fan fiction series. The Doctor explained that the spaceship basically went up and down, figuring out that the aliens had been there a good long while.

"Bigger question, how could they have shot a spaceship without anyone noticing?" Leticia looked to the Doctor's scrunched up forehead.

"2006, not 2016." The Doctor reiterated.

"Webcams are still a thing? People used them apart from naughty pay girls and funny animals!"

The Doctor shook his head. "Have to know where to look."

"People have cameras in their phones?"

"Most of London in this time period have smaller, less resolution, ones. Not the flashy touchscreens from your time."

"Hold on," Rose raised a hand for empathize. "You're from ten years in the future?"

"And then some." She waved a hand at the blonde, not directly meeting her eyes. "Hiya."

"But.. Doctor..." Rose looked at her man, well, sorta her man. "Doesnt that mean she time traveled by herself?"

"She had, but by accident." Pushing some buttons Leticia hadn't seen used in a while, the image on the screen changed to TV.

"Couldn't you get a better picture?" Goodness, she had seen better at her grandfather's old girlfriend apartment. And she had that old bulky for over 15 years.

"That takes some time." The Doctor pressed another button to change the channels, black and white static separating each channel. He managed to hit the news section in one go.

Mickey stretched his head in between The Doctor and Rose, both of them separating because of it. "How many channels do you get?"

"All the basic packages."

"It gets sports channels?"

"Yes, I get the football. Hold on, I know that lot!"

Leticia looked closer at the group in the video. She hadn't seen much American media concerning military, in a while, but, it looked a awful like the U.S ones.

"UNIT! United Nation Intelligence Taskforce, good people!"

Leticia smiled, remembering OsGood and Kate Stewart. Maybe Kate was on active duty at this point!

"How do you know them?" Rose asked.

"'Caused he worked for them." Leticia glanced at the Doctor, while Rose looked at Mickey. "Oh yeah, don't think I sat on my backside for twelve months, Doctor! I read up on you! You look deep enough on the internet or in the history books, and there's his name, followed by a list of the dead."

Mickey would fit in well with the crowd Leticia was used to talking to on the forums.

"That's nice. Good boy, Ricky."

"If you know them, why don't you go and help?" Rose asked. The Doctor turned off the screen in response.

"They wouldn't recognize me. I've changed a lot since the old days. Besides, the world's on a knife-edge. There's aliens out there and fake aliens. We want to keep this alien out of the mix. I'm going undercover. And er, I'd better keep the TARDIS out of sight. Ricky, you've got a car. You can do some driving." While he talked, Nine moved some levers and a button, going around the panel full circle, patting Mickey on the back when he was done.

Leticia started to follow the Doctor, Rose flounsing behind her, while Mickey brought up the rear. "Where to?"

"The roads are clearing. Let's go and have a look at that spaceship."

As soon as they went out of the door, Leticia was blinded by a harsh light.

Leticia, the Doctor, and Rose were escorted out of the block of flats that represented the Powell Estate, confirming that Rose's flat was named Bucknall House. So Love and Monsters and the books were correct. Mickey ran for the garbage metal boxes as soon as he could. It felt a bit odd that he could hide in plain sight from an area crawling with soldiers, but some people get lucky breaks. She was a bit relieved that despite her changing certain things, like Mickey getting an opportunity to song Rose Tyler, things were coming back on track.

One of the escorting soldiers showed them to a black car, with a UNIT solider as the driver. Leticia said nothing as they went inside, her having taken the window seat, in order for Nine and Rose have a bit of a chat.

The young girl from America looked out the edge of the window, and took in Peckham, as they zoomed by. When she had the chance, she would always try to seat near the window, whether it be on a plane, in a beaten up bright blue van, or a London police car escorting them to the equivalent of the White House.

She looked out at the little stories that whizzed past, drunken woman making out with someone near a lit corner, loud music blaring while people shout about the aliens landing. She smiled, taking in all she could.

And to think, that alien white collar con family want to burn this world to the ground, when that oaf ascended to be the head of the biggest office of the island. No wonder that crack opened up on this episode. Maybe, just maybe, it opened because what was was happening there was being mirrored over on her universe with the certain infamous white collar con man in charge.

Or it was just a coincidence. Maybe. Her mind always wandered when she was stuck in a vehicle for so long.

She never thought she could experience something as simple as being a passenger in a car, even if it's a police car, ever again. Her mind flashed back to that time when she was young. Er. Her grandfather helping her to school, sitting on a tied on backseat on a bicycle, looking around the raining Windows, listening to radio Disney while waiting for less rain on a summer night. Trying to pretend she was falling down a rabbit hole while her grandfather drove around a spiral thing in order to get to one of those famous flea markets.

She blinked rapidly, doing her best to control her breathing. The young 19 year old glanced back at Nine and Rose, trying not to look at each other with love eyes. She couldn't break, not at one of most important stories of the era.

Rose, for the first three episodes, experienced what it was like to live among the stars. And she ended up in a future, where people confirmed that she hadn't been seen in over a year. And with that, she could never really connect with her home time. Not all that much. The later times she appeared, were few and far in between.

And because of that, she connected more with the Doctor, both being sorta then they started to fall for each other, mimicking each other. And resulting in the cluster-mess that was the RTD era.

In any case, this two parter was the most important stepping stone in terms of everything that happens to the Doctor's and Rose's relationship onward.

And she had to figure out a way to make sure those two never end up as codependent as they would be during series two, assuming she survived. From being one half of a caretaker to being the Last of the Time Lord's and Bad Wolf's caretaker. Fecking fantastic.

* * *

 

Please be kind and leave a review. Doesn't have to be a essay, could be something like 'Ooh, Lostiesgirl. You are so amazing with your words, you are the best writer of all time!' You know, something simple as that.

 

 


	3. Old faces, dead skin

 

 

 

 

  


 

 

 

 

 

 

  
 

 

Greetings and salutations, guys, gals, and non-binary pals! I know this is a bit short, but I had a personal last few days and it took its toll on me. Also, given certain important things that happened the week, a content warning for political things.

* * *

To know what one ought to do is certainly the hardest thing in life. 'Doing' Is comparatively easy." - Maria Mitchell

* * *

As the car drove closer to 10 downing street, Leticia Lopez started to feel self conscious. It wasn't that she was unopposed to taking her picture, through she kinda dislike how her smiles over the years went from Peter Capaldi cute to Peter Capaldi scary awkward. It was more like having physical evidence that she existed in this universe.

When she leaves, hopefully soon, then there would always being evidence that she existed here. Maybe even years, centuries onwards, her photos would be a part of history, physical evidence about that time this country had a con family trying to nuke a whole planet and the media had the whole thing swept under the rug, putting up alternative facts in the newspapers. Probably either in the UNIT or the Torchwood archive.

' No over thinking, just do it! Stop over thinking, it's just a couple of seconds and then you're done!'

"What are you doing that for?" The Doctor raised a eyebrow.

Leticia started to dust off her hair and other things from her black shirt when Nine asked his question. "Oh, no reason. Just something to do." Turning away from Nine, and facing the road, she started to inspect her teeth with her tongue. She successfully removed an old guava seed from a groove in one of her teeth.

She had almost forgotten this part. Almost, if she hadn't remembered the pictures show up again in 'Love and Monsters'. Somewhere out there, there's a really creepy Shrek alien with troll hair, just waiting to light their way into a non serious Tenth Doctor investigation group that turned into a ELO cover band and swallow them up. Funny how that alien is from the sister planet of this story's aliens.

"Looks like we're in for a welcoming." Rose spotted the various cameras and lights littering the street.

"Oh joy." Leticia had forgotten the paparazzi would be on her side of the door. No, she was going to do it. Just smile and wave, smile without teeth, and wave without somehow offending five nations. And three alien races.

The paparazzi sprung up to life as the black car stopped near the entrance of 10 downing street. Huffing slightly at wanting a window seat, Leticia opened the door, the one directly facing the eager photographers. Chin up, shoulders back, smiling at no one in particular, she started to do the Genova wave.

Some of them waved in turn.

This caused her to grin. Then she felt Nine touch the back of her neck. Of course. She moved her head to face him. He made a hand gesture towards the building behind her. She frowned at how different it looked in real life, compared to the show. Of course, she hadn't expected much. It wasn't like the United States where there's a whole two or three blocks filled with the White House. She wondered if that fanfic with the Ninth Doctor as the Prime Minister and Rose as his Afternoon Delight, was accurate as to the Prime Minister's apartment. Among other things.

"Oye! They're gunna think we're related."

The Ninth Doctor raised his eyebrows in amusement. "With these teeth?" He grinned, showing the influence of having too many British companions.

She bared her teeth in a semblance of a smile, showing her less than adequate dental care. "Even more related!"

"Let them think," He shrugged it off. " maybe It'll do them some good."

"Try and tell that to Britney Spears. Ugh, I sound dated. Carbon dated, at that." She remembered that particular day in 2007. And that was before TMZ. She started stretching her left hand, relishing the noise it made. Then she started on her writing hand.

"You sound ahead of the trend."

The inside of one of the most famous political buildings in the English speaking world was a bit reddish pink, almost like salmon. She wasn't the one to talk about interior designs, but, again, she was spoiled by that trip to D.C. It was a lovely three days, too bad she couldn't have met Obama; home towns and all that. Aside from that, it felt surreal. Hours ago, in another universe, on another continent, she was walking along a uneven paved road, wanting to be as far away from family as she dared.

Leti's eyes darted around the room, feeling a bit under-dressed at the business suits and possible UNIT employees. She, not so subtly, lightly grazed the neckline of her long sleeve for the white dust. She was going to take it stride, she had been under-dressed to important things before. One time, she was overdressed, wearing one of her black prom dresses to one of uncle's weddings. Of course, she was copying her mother, who found the same thing in her size.

" _Thank you for wearing your I.D cards. They'll help to identify the bodies!_ "

To Leticia's horror, she saw the I.D the various alien experts were wearing, the ones that they'll be killed with. She doesn't know as to the how, but she had a feeling it didn't matter. The Doctor doesn't have his yet, but Indra Ganish was going to give him one, a few minutes before his own death.

She, self consciously, took a deep breath. She couldn't save everbody, not even Superman could do that, not unless he lost that part of himself that was as human as she and Rose was at this point in time. Mini series were devoted to that consequence.

"Doctor," The young girl looked up at Nine, who was doing a scan of his own, luckily not meeting her gaze. "I was thinking, if it's possible for... Nevermind."

"Let's hear it."

Leticia opened her mouth to speak. She couldn't really changed things, not this. The Doctor interrupted the Slitheen family members when he attended the meeting, made his deductions, and the green men retaliated by electrifying everyone who were wearing their I.D cards. Then the Doctor did a Time Lord thing and force the electricity back to them, harming the rest of the family, saving Jackie from death, and delaying Blon for a few crucial seconds while Rose and Harriet Jones ran for their lives.

In order to, ultimately, save the world from being turned into a burn out rock, she would have to let those experts die.

She doesn't envy being President of the world now.

"How long has it been since Piggy Lovhaug disappeared?"

The Doctor blinked in response.

She knew the Doctor had a occasional lack of awareness, but she just arrived an hour ago, saving that walking pig's life!

"Piggy Lovhaug?"

Oh! "Well, I'm a Big fan of Linkara and his comic book review series, thought that won't come out for another two years, he's probably doing some text based review at this point in time. It was that or Piggy Plopper, and that seemed too comic bookie."

He glanced back at her, probably wondering if she should follow up on that, but he shifted it back to her question. "About an hour. Relatively speaking. For them." His eyes glanced around the room

"Not for us?" She swore it had only been an hour.

"We're off by half an hour.."

"Oh. But, since- Wait. " Torchwood Tosh was given an opportunity to examine the supposed dead alien. Sure, it was a last minute thing, but why would only the Cardiff branch appeared on a case that involves aliens crashing in two national landmarks? They probably aren't the only Torchwood Members here.

There had to be some in that meeting too. But that doesn't excuse anything. She remembered from the Torchwood audios and from the Cybermen/Daleks two parter that most of Torchwood London aren't that bad, especially Yvonne Hartman.

"Is it always like that?" She was distracted from registering she had said those words out loud. Until the Doctor responded.

"Life I lead, tends to lose track of time."

"Like the shoemaker's kids not having shoes. Just a thing, not sure it's the right thing."

There she is! Harriet Jones walked through the throng of people, conspicuous in her pink jacket and blouse. Despite hearing great things about socializing, no one really talks about how slow it could be.

That faithful backbencher was gonna start Britain's golden age, until a still forming Tenth Doctor deposed her, with six very sexist words, causing two awful prime Ministers, and a very short term one, to take her place.

"Ladies and gentlemen, can we convince?" Indra Ganesh said as he entered the room, the Doctor's I.D in his hand, looking very rumpled with the extra sized black suit jacket. But it suited him well.

' And they called it puppy love...' Leticia's eyes wandered while she moved with the Doctor to the other door, stretching her arms for the running she'll have to do later. And possibly taking a peek at everyone's nice body without being called a pervert.

"Here's your I.D card. I'm sorry your companions don't have clearance."

"I don't go anywhere without them."

Oh, was she a companion then? Before even going through an episode? Her chances at survival are looking good.

"They're staying with me." Leticia felt the Doctor's hand grip hers. Leticia covered one of her cheeks with her hand, to stop the blush from showing.

"Okay, even I don't have clearance to go in there. I can't let them in and that's a fact."

"It's alright, you go." Rose said.

"Yeah, go ahead." Leticia released her hand from his.

"Excuse me. Are you the Doctor?" Harriet said, her upper pink clothes visible from the corner of Leticia's eye.

"You two sure?" The Doctor said to both Rose and Leti, ignoring Harriet. Leticia nodded in confirmation.

"Yeah, you're the expert, I wouldn't know what to say." Rose said, her voice barely audible with the conversation Indra and Harriet were having right next to them.

"I suppose so. Don't get in any trouble." The Doctor went through the doorway, without looking back.

'trouble is already at our fingertips, Nine. Pot calling the kettle black!' She followed Rose, who was being lead by Indra in the opposite direction.

"It's alright. I'll look after them. Let me be of some use!" Harriet Jones gestured for the both of them to follow her. She glanced back at Indra, who seemed to be glancing dubiously at Harriet."Just keep walking."

The entrance hall looked more inviting than earlier, of course, Leticia was nervous about being scared that one of the green meanies would target her. Now, mixed with a warm shade of white from the arches, it looks almost homey. Not her home, that was more wooden with a hot tin roof, or whatever type of metal they used for the wavey metal roof.

"Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North." If Leticia remembered right, that meant Member of Parliament. She should try getting more involved with politics when she returned home.

They were lead to the bottom of a stairwell, the same one that Leticia recognized from the story, that lead to the cabinet room.

"This friend of yours, he's an expert, is that right? He knows about aliens?"

"Yes he does." Leticia answered, not directly looking Miss Jones in the eyes, because she knew she was going to start crying at any moment. "What happened?" Harriet Jones covered her hands and started to sob. Rose tried to comfort her by touching her shoulders in an awkward manner.

Leticia quickly pulled out her roll of toilet paper and gave a few cuts over to Harriet. Too bad she didn't have her comfort item; Leticia's was her phone, and when it was really bad, her cream lid, but that was her small links to her world.

"Oh, thank you dear." The MP for Flydale North quickly tried to wipe her tears. "I'll show you." They were lead up to the room with the personal assistant desks, had lovely red columns. They walked through the ajar door.

She had pictured it differently, from that interesting fanfic, more darker with the wood and blue for the walls. She moved her mind away from the idea, that there's a potential universe, where the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler danced their tango on the Cabinet room table. Or was it bending over a table? It had been a while since she read it.

Harriet showed them the skin of the dead politician. The way that the skin looked, the whole plan should have failed. To Leticia, the skin looked alive, no indications of irregular shaped scars. The rest of the organs and nerves and other vital things were taken out, leaving a hollow skin. The skin doesn't even have the decomposing smell. Except that the eyes should have been a dead giveaway, since everyone of the slitheen family had big childlike eyes that close sideways.

Harriet was being comforted by Rose from her left. She didn't want to look at Harriet all too often, with a darker skin, and shorter hair, she could pass as her favorite great aunt. She remembered the last hug her aunt had given her, when she appeared earlier today, carrying an array of flowers.

She wiped her eyes so harshly, the room disappeared for a moment. 'Shut it out, close that door, focus.'

So, whatever those compression fields had in them to work, they have to do something extra to the eyes in order for them to appear human. And the skin, since there wasn't a viable way for the skin to retain it's elasticity that long after death without starting to smell really bad eventually. Or to start rotting.

She blinked, moving away from the skin. He was once a person, with a life, and a family. And a lot of people he was sleeping with. Everything was taken from him, even his skin, discarded for a better ranking officer's skin.

Harriet Jones saw a man die before her eyes, unable to do anything to stop it. Or she would have been killed herself and stuffed in a closet. And it was just the skin. So what did the family do with the organs?

The young girl pressed an hand to her mouth. She couldn't. She needed to control herself. But that was the thing. People make fun of the Slitheen family being with the baby eyes and giggling at their own farts, but they're more dangerous than that. She hadn't seen any other humanoid alien trying for a complicated plot to become the Prime Minister. Okay, maybe that weird incarnation of the Master. But involving so many people, plus with the engineering of stitching a pig into being able to walk, who was still sleeping in the hospital bed, because of her. That takes some high confidence.

Being in the Doctor's world isn't all fun and games. Especially confronting aliens that kill just because they're in their way.

She shouldn't feel this much guilt on what she was going to do then.

Rose was moving around the room, looking for anything that proves to be alien tech. The London blonde made a surprised noise, as the body of a startling familiar Prime Minister fell from a supply closet.

Leticia moved closer with Harriet. She crouched down to see the damage.

His eyes were still open.

/Her hands lifted towards her grandfather's eyes, wanting to close them. But she couldn't.

She moved back to the hospital chair, the one her mother had been sleeping on for about a week. Soon his body would be in the ground, in the family plots. They were based on a small hill, facing the mountain side.

He always kept talking about going back to the States eventually, going back to work at his business. Even when he wasn't getting better, he said those words.

She stayed silent, crying, waiting for her mother to come back with the rest of the family that was waiting outside./

Leticia went to close them, succeeding despite her shaky hand.

"Harriet, for God's sake! This has gone beyond a joke. You cannot just wander... Oh My god." Leticia looked up to see Indra Ganesh, looking down at Tony Blair in shock. "That's the prime minister."

"Kinda figured that out, thanks." Leticia moved back to her feet, swaying slightly.

"Oh! Has someone been naughty?" Margaret Blaine, well, Blon Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen wearing the dead skin of Margaret Blaine, said, shutting the door behind her.

Leticia moved forward, shifting her stuffed stringed backpack to easily grab her weapon.

"That's impossible. He left this afternoon. The Prime Minister left Downing Street. He was driven away!"

"And who told you that, hmm?" Blon Fel Fotch removed her professional satchel and moved it to the table. "Me!" Her voice barely audible, but clearly registering the joy she had. She moved her short blonde bangs away from her forehead, revealing the zipper.

Leticia gripped tightly on Indra's arm. He turned to her. She looked directly in the eyes. He had a nice shade of brown. "Get behind me," Leticia mouthed.

Frowning, he did as she asked, leaving her as the fairly easy target. Leticia reached her weapon, her hand gripping the skinny part, her finger hovering on the trigger.

For a moment, Leticia wondered what it would feel like, being grabbed by those claws and pushed upwards to the ceiling. Being electrocuted seconds later. Then she remembered her grandfather, the last time she saw her grandfather, and what he said.

She angled her weapon out of her bag.

"What are you doin'?" She heard Rose behind her.

"Buying some time."

When she finished, the big hulking green monster, Blon, extended her claws.

Leticia released her weapon and aimed at Blon Fel's eyes, looking directly at them.. She pulled the trigger. Repeatedly.

The spray didn't reach Blon's eyes, she closed her hand and used it as a shield. The scream build up from a hiss to a panicked screech.

 

 


	4. Salted Wound

  

Greetings and salutations, Guys, gals, and non-binary pals! It has been a long while since I've posted, and from the author's note, I've posted here for a few months, for good reason. The plans I have for this story to come will be explained down in the author's note. And on what happened to me.

Don't worry, the bruises have healed, the scars have not.

* * *

Tyger Tyger, burning bright,

In the forests of the night;

What immortal hand or eye,

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies,

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand, dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder, what art,

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand? what dread feet?

\- The Tyger, by William Blake

* * *

Leticia Lopez took a moment to catch her breath, closing her eyes in momentarily relief. She hoped to the gods that there was no more running after this. At least for this episode. After having saved Indra from being killed, and Blon involuntary emulating Pikachu, they still had to go through the chase around The Prime Minister's fancy house, and still end up in a fancy posh British living room. Contrary to the show, Blon didn't start running really fast in CGI mode, then normally a few seconds later.

The turn of a knob, and heavy footfall, and Blon entered the room. Leti thought that, aside from taking a good chance at saving someone, that since Indra was a 'Junior Secretary', that he would know a few extra rooms to hide in. Apparently, Junior Secretary does not translate to Pepper Potts levels of P.A. Of course, it would be odd if a lower-rank person managed to run the country behind the shadow of the head honcho in charge. But this was a universe with two international organizations dealing with aliens threats that rarely overlapped with each other, Clara Time Clones scattered around the universe with the same face, and a twin planet of Earth. Which mysteriously disappeared, or blown up, she wasn't sure. Was it to much to ask for a key to the Prime minister's apartment or a priest hole hidden behind a bookcase that could only be opened via a piano key?

Thank goodness she only had to wait the handful of minutes until Doctor Leather Pants showed up to fight the Slitheen siblings with the fire extinguisher. While she and the group of not so fictional characters were doing an awful lot of running, Leti saw the Doctor show up in the nick of time, distracting Blon, smiling away in that elevator. She could get used to that smile.

"Oh, such fun." Blon's voice carried throughout the room. "Little human children, where are you? Sweet little humankind, come to me. Let me kiss you better. Kiss you with my big, green lips."

'Oh you would fit right in with Miranda's mum, if they ever decided to do a Red Nose Day mini-episode crossover...' Leticia looked at Rose, who was basically giving her hiding spot, the cream colored curtains, away with her breathing. As much as she really wished she ended up in a point in the Doctor's timeline where Rose Tyler was mostly out of the Doctor's system, she hadn't minded early Rose all that much. She had gone through so much in her first days as a companion. There was something admirable in that a former shopgirl, who dropped out, living day by day without much expectations for the future, managed to get the trip of a lifetime on her own merits and help the Doctor adjust to a universe without Time Lords. Maybe, given time, she could see the best of Rose before the inevitable downfall. For her and the Doctor.

If The Doctor managed not to find a way back to her universe, of course.

She looked at Harriet Jones, hiding behind a curtain hidden partially behind a clothes changing screen. This was a strangely decorated living room, aside from the lovely liquor cabinet. Granted, she couldn't say much about her living room, which doubled as a bedroom, kitchen and dining room, library, study room, and water storage room. At the very least, she knew which things went where, on a good day.

Her eyes darted back to Indra, who still seemed rattled. Both of them were hiding behind the liquor cabinet. Not much in the way of cover, but it was something. She just had to keep this up, and hopefully Indra could live to see another day. And if she want to, she could too. "My brothers." Blon cooed as two of her unclothed brothers entered the parlor.

"Happy hunting?"

"It's wonderful, the more you prolong it, the more they _stink_!"

"I can smell an old girl. A stale bird with brittle bones."

"And three ripe youngsters, female hormones and adrenaline." Blon itched closer to where Rose was hiding. Leticia's hand started to pulse with her tight grip on the vinegar spray. Blon stopped. "And one particular little girl, positively stinkin' with poison!" Blon, quicker than Leticia had time to blink, turned around. "You!" She gritted out.

" _Fecking figs_!" Leticia stood up and held up her sprayer. "Don't test me, Jolly green giant!"

The Doctor burst through the door, fire extinguisher in hand, and stopped in his tracks at the sight of Leticia Lopez holding a spray bottle at the Slitheen. "What are you doin'?"

"A thing!" Leticia shouted, spraying at Blon's chest this time. She moved herself out of the way as Blon started to shout, her claws reflexively heading to touch her sizzling skin. "Help with the thing!" He didn't need to be told twice, using the fire extinguisher in record time, on the Slitheen brothers in the room. She quickly ran to the Doctor's side.

"Come on, you lot!" The rest of the group joined them. "Who the hell are you two?" The Doctor looked at the newcomers.

"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North."

"Indra Ganesh, junior Secreta - We've met downstairs!"

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "Nice to meet you, again."

"Likewise." Both of them said. With one last blast of his fire extinguisher, Leticia grabbed Indra's hand and pulled him to the door. The rest of them followed as fast. Indra pulled away from her, as they turned a corner. She frowned and tried not to take it personally, given he was the first human guy close to her age that she had decided to have physical contact with in three years. At least, she was sure he was near her age. Then again, Junior Secretary.

"We need to head to the cabinet room." The Doctor hardly sounded winded.

"The emergency protocols are in there." Harriet Jones said, sounding a bit winded. "They give instructions for aliens."

"Harriet Jones, I like you."

"And I like you too."

How can people talk while they're running for their lives!? Even with the adrenaline coursing through her, Leticia felt a harsh banging in her head from thinking about the next four minutes in the episode, from how much things could change with two variables in the mix, And from running ahead from those aliens. Somehow, the Doctor managed to reach a wooden door that he could open with his sonic. They quickly made their way inside, and Leticia ran to the open double doors, aiming her sprayer at the incoming Slitheen. " _Seriously_?" The young woman was out of breath, but her eyes were entirely focused on the middle of Blon's eyes.

"Stop!" Blon splayed her hand in the arm to hold back her brothers.

The Doctor stood by her side, side-eyeing Leticia, as he held the decanter with the half filled alcohol. "One more move," The Doctor started to sonic the alcohol. " and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Whoof, we all go up! So back off. "

The small band of family took a step backwards. The Doctor lowered his hands, while Leticia grabbed her spray arm to keep it steady, side-eyeing the alcohol holder. He glanced back at Leticia, then back to the Slitheen. "Right then. Question time. Who exactly are the Slitheen?"

"They're aliens. " Harriet said helpfully.

"Narrows _that_ down." Leticia hoped that her call back, or forwards as the scene with the Slitheen in Mickey's apartment was a few minutes later, wouldn't bite her in her pompies later on.

"Yes. I got that, thanks." The Doctor said.

"Who are you, if not human?" The Slitheen that was formally posing as Joseph Green asked, strangely enough with the same man's voice. Another question to the unanswered pile.

"Who's not human?" Harriet asked.

Rose jerked her chin at the Doctor. "He's not human."

"He's not human?"

"He's an alien," Indra confirmed.

"Can I have a bit of hush?" The Doctor interjected.

"But you have a northern accent." Leticia wanted to glance back at Harriet, but she had to be on guard in case some pebble ripping change happened. The dialogue at that moment already was a bit off-script.

"Lots of planets have a north." Rose whispered.

"Hush time." Leticia said, just to keep things going.

"Sorry." Harriet muttered.

Doctor Nine grinned at Leticia, before turning to the Slitheen family. "Come on, you've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea. It's transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way to the top of government. What for, invasion?"

"Why would we invade this God-forsaken rock?" The Slitheen that posed as General Asquith said in disgust.

"Then something's brought the Slitheen race here. What is it?"

Leticia kept her arm steady as Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen, the Raxacoricofallapatorian that posed as acting Prime Minister Joseph Green, explained about his surname, that it wasn't the name of his race, and The Doctor trying, in his Doctorly way, to figure out about their evil plan. The more she thought about it, the Slitheen have a bad reputation. For being called forgettable villains, they have a unique villain framework, like an alien family mob that, instead of bribing officials into submission, become the officials.

"Ah, excuse me? Your device will do what? Triplicate the flammability?" The Slitheen who liked to play dress up with bodies said.

Oh _cripes_. Why, oh why, doesn't this Doctor have bigger on the inside pockets? Hell, there's a setting on the Sonic that make fire! But Leticia couldn't tell him that, otherwise it would result in being investigated, or worst, if the Time Lord Victorious decided on making an early bird cameo. Nine was the one that directly regenerated from the Last Day of the Time War. Even if that final action of the war turned out to have a timey-wimey twist, the Doctor, for centuries, never acknowledged an incarnation reborn to fight in a devastating war, that lasted probably 800 years. From what she had seen from the show's history, hell, even from her own life, that sort of horror changes a person, shedding a skin of their old personality. Like Martha, like Clara, like River... Even Rose. And those were the people he cares about! And if she just screwed up, made one bad error, she could up just like her – She stopped herself. Breathe in through the nose.

Three. She could see the Slitheens, talking to the Doctor, and the doorway of the cabinet room.

Two. She could hear both aliens talking basically from the script, information she already knew.

One. She could feel the pulse in her tightening hands.

And out through the mouth. She tuned back into the conversation, just as the Slitheen with no name realized The Doctor made the whole thing up.

"Ah, well! Nice try." With an apologetic grin, Doctor Nine turned to Leticia. "Leticia, have a drink. I think you're gonna need it."

"Maybe later." Leticia darted her eyes to her spray bottle by way of explanation. _I have a better chance of trying to confess my forever love for Rose Tyler in front of a beach in Norway, than be a social drinker._

"Right. Sorry." He passed the alcohol holder over to Rose.

"Thanks." Rose muttered in reply, gripping the decanter.

"Now we can end this hunt with a slaughter." The Asquith impersonator flexed his claws. Leticia walked a few paces behind her.

"Not so fast, Babyface. We aren't completely defenseless." She glanced down at Blon's arms, distinctive with the patches of irritated skin.

Blon hissed at her. "There's barely enough to get all three of us, girl."

Half a lifetime's worth of belittlement, of constantly being overlooked as a competent woman, caused Leticia to stare at the alien directly in the eyes. "Nineteen years old! You may have differences in your culture, and you may be an old dinosaur compared to me! But. Don't. Call me. A Girl!"

Frowning at both the aliens menacing towards them, and the Doctor finding an American a year older than her, Rose Tyler asked, "Don't you think we should run?"

"Fascinating history, Downing Street. Two thousand years ago, this was marsh land. 1730, it was occupied by a Mister Chicken. He was a nice man." After he finished his little rhyme, Leticia moved backwards in anticipation of his next trick. "1796, this was the Cabinet Room. If the Cabinet's in session and in danger, these are about the four most safest walls in the whole of Great Britain." In a flash, his hand was lifting the metal panel by the door. "End of lesson."

Leticia looked around, startled by the noise of the metal sliding down on the windows and the doors. "Installed in 1991. Three inches of steel lining every single wall. Not the most useful of defenses but they'll never get in." The Doctor explained, turning to the rest of the group.

Indra looked at The Doctor in awe. "How did you know that?"

The Doctor grinned. "Old Roy showed it to me while I was passing through. It's still here after all this time." He smiled wistfully.

Indra raised his eyebrows in realization. "Former Prime Minister John Major ?"

"I usually called him Roy."

"That's all well and good, but how do we get out?" Rose interrupted, feeling some panic at the thought that they were actually trapped inside without a plan.

"Ah." The realization washed him. Stuck in a metal box with the Slitheen family taking over Downing Street. With a companion that took him over 100 years to ask again to travel with him, and another that managed to overcome his initial expectations, for the second time in their short time together. He moved over to the girl in question. "Now then, what's in there, battery acid?"

Leticia stood up straight, realizing that there was no escaping this flaw in her 'not acting like she knew about the show' plan. Well, would it hurt in revealing their weakness a bit early?

"That definitely burns through plastic..." She said, raising her eyebrows at the thought The Doctor didn't knew of this obvious tidbit. "Anyways, this is mostly a homemade recipe." She held out the bottle to him. "When there's a constant threat of being kidnapped to the mountains and being an everything slave, I plan ahead on defending myself."

Rose's eyes widen. "You were kidnapped?"

Leticia's first instinct was to downplay the social climate of her Mexican city, but it was nice to talk to someone outside of her bubble about her old life. "I had a proposal from a homeless man with corn teeth, while walking in the middle of the road. That was during the day. If I was out after midnight... I was mostly lucky in staying close to my family during those times, and my mom's girlfriend." She felt her hand starting to sweat as The Doctor looked at the bottle, trying to decipher what was inside from a mere glance. "It's like any major city in the world, but a bit more dangerous with lack of security cameras, people posing in taxis and _combis_ , and of course, wild animals at night,and during the day." Leti added, reminded of that time her and her family were walking down their mountain and her mother got spooked by a black snake.

Rose was muddling around in her mind on how to take that in. True, she was under no delusions that her life before meeting the Doctor was safe, her short-time engagement to Jimmy Stone and her massive amount of debt, as big proof of that. But she was starting to take in how different this woman was from herself. She seemed too pale for a woman of her age. She didn't looked like a goth, or an emo, at least not intentionally. Rose's mind went back to when the Doctor mentioned losing his planet, all those hours ago.

Despise himself, the Doctor smiled. He grabbed the bottle, and, with practiced ease, pulled out his sonic screwdriver. One scan told him, perplexedly, what he needed to know. "Vinegar?"

The Doctor stored the idea away to his mental storm room. He moved over to the former Prime Minister's body. He knew that Tony Blair finished sometime in the mid 2000s, and another Prime Minister lead the 21st century golden age, but The Doctor hadn't known when. His mind was split in getting all the facts together, with seeing how Leticia is holding up with Rose (so far so good, as far as he could tell), and Harriet Jones. He was a good multitasker, and a good procrastinator, given how long ago it had been for his and Rose's first adventure.

"There's a lot of vinegar in my house for cleaning supplies." Which was true, something her mom picked up from an old family friend of ours, and was very helpful against fruit flies outbreaks. "Better than making pepper spray," She half wondered if it was possible to market a vinegar spray when she returned, at least to her neighbors, and not just selling food or candies on the street. Or possibly with them. Then dismissed the idea. It would be feasible, but she might get unwanted attention and being called a _pinche_ ripoff.

* * *

Leti felt herself shivering in her fuzzy pink Disney Princess sweater, even the warmth of the heating of her Grampa's bright blue Astro van, wasn't heating her fast enough. Her Grampa found a station in Spanish, as per usual, talking about the current weather, and the harsh raining that was going to happen for sometime more.

She liked going with her Grampa, having different adventures with him. Once, she even had some new friends out of it, as her Grampa had made a small garden shed in their backyard, while Leti ended up inside the house, playing with Ella's and Delilah's pet ferret, while watching Avatar: the last Airbender, book two.

Her eyes were glued on her collage literature book, that her mom bought for her, from the Library. Since the one they used to go to was closing, they were selling some of their books, while the others are shipped off into other libraries. She wasn't too sure on the specifics. as the old library they went to was closing. The regular sound of birds tweeting pierced the sounds of the radio. Leti listened in, as best she could. Spanish wasn't her best skill, She could speak it, but understanding it to hold conversation with someone? No sirree, Bob! She could barely speak to her family about this, only hearing her mom and Grampa, and her uncle, on occasion, and they usually talk to her in English, broken English, but they're trying.

She frowned, as the very distinctive voice of her mom, was coming in loud and clear. She would be late coming in from work, again. Leti didn't mind, she would have more time to have with her Grampa before school starts again. She would like to see these flowers that her mom was busy with rearranging, maybe even have some in her room, but that was her.

" _Hija_ ," Her Grampa said, shutting his phone and putting it back in his coat jacket. " _Ella estará de vuelta en casa un poco más tarde_."

" _Esta bien_!" She looked at him for a second in the eye, then back to her book, to the section about the script for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate factory, trying to look like she was more engrossed in her book than her actual thoughts.

Her grampa sighed. " _Hay muchas posibilidades de que empiece a trabajar por las mañanas, y uno de estos días voy a estar demasiado ocupado para cuidar a mi nieta_."

She understood, as much as it saddens her, her mom was busy working with flowers, putting them in pots, and her grampa would be busy with his fences, or making sheds, especially before winter start. " _Voy a hir a quinto grado. Soy_ grown up _now_."

" _No, hija, te voy a buscar por las tardes, en la mañana, tienes más que suficiente para caminar solo a la escuela_."

She smiled in relief. " _Esto bien con eso_." She was ready to do this. Going to fifth grade, easy peasy.

They stayed parked for another 30 minutes, Leti was happy in any case, she had changed the radio to Radio Disney, She finished reading about Charlie being the last kid standing, and she was promised two big macs and a giant coke cup to eat as soon as the rain was less rainy. All in all, a good summer day.

By the time she went home, her mother was arriving home, coming out of a strange red car, one that had an extra tire on the back of the car. Her mother happily said goodbye to the woman in the car.

"Mama!" Leti rushed up to her mother, hugging her mother as she still waved goodbye to her friend.

Leti only had a glimpse at the pudgy woman, before she drove off. Her mother turned back to her, returning her hug, with a tight one of her own.

Leti could handle small changes, she could. She might not have been Charlie, who won a golden ticket, and later the factory, in a small timeframe, but she could handle doing this on her own. Like she had seen in her books, and on the TV, kids turn into teens, who turn into collage students, who turned into married people, then into old people. She could adapt, she could.

* * *

Leticia had her hand obscuring her mouth, to hide away the plastic lid that she decided on chewing to calm her straining nerves. After showing the Doctor the bottle, He and Indra busied themselves on moving Tony Blair, to the storage closet. Rose looked around the room, for Terminals. Leticia was sure it wasn't something to do with computers, probably. Laptops were a thing in 2006, she had one when she turned 9. She needed to buy a English-English to English Slang dictionary. Harriet was the only other person beside her, sitting at the conference table, lost in concentration on the files. There wasn't much to do, beside worry.

Her other hand was busy pinching her thumb, in a effort to not take out her, advanced by comparison, smartphone, and to focus on something beyond the death stench of the deceased Prime Minster. She wasn't going to jeopardized a lifetime's amount of freedom, for a spilt-second indulgence. She looked at Harriet, without directly looking in her eyes. Being a fan of Penelope Wilton, and sitting close to the wonderful actress, was an amazing feat, in her short lifetime. She loved her role in Brief Encounters, a ITV show she saw live on the channel app she had. She came in for her, and enjoyed the whole show as a whole, especially her inspiration for a fanfic character Leti had trouble finding an actor's face for, Ben Bailey Smith as Henry Davis Bloom. But this wasn't her. This woman lived a underdog life of politics, until one chance encounter with aliens changed her life, becoming Prime Minster for a perceived Golden Age, until Ten screwed it all up, with six sexist words.

She hadn't been that up to date on British politics, aside from occasionally checking in on BBC news, and Newzoids, in fact, she first knew about Tony Blair via a sketch from an old show that involved him regenerating into David Tennant. But she knew that Blair had a couple more years left back in her world. Not sure if they were any good, but that usually wasn't something she concerned herself with. What would be front page news in the morning? The bombing of Downing Street, the death of Tony Blair, the spaceship that was still in the Thames, that the Doctor managed to completely forget about? After folding her third small uneven origami frog, with her flatten toilet paper, she turned in to the Doctor's explanation of what happened in those brief moments in the meeting room, the acting Prime Minister's skin hiding a hulking alien, realizing their plan to get all the experts downstairs, and, to Leticia's amazement, the hospitalization of all the Alien experts. Some of them being in serious condition, but alive. Either he got the info quicker or he acted quicker. It didn't matter in the end.

"This place is ancient." Rose said, after having not found any terminals. "What I don't get is, when they killed the Prime Minister, why didn't they used him as a disguise?"

The Doctor finished trying to break flimsy Canon by sonicing wood. Indra was still in the closet, paying his respects, probably. "He's too slim. They're big old beasts. They need to fit inside big humans."

Leticia frowned. It wasn't like the Slitheen family were big-big like that fantasy Bart Simpson had of him being proud of washing with a rag on a stick. But, the General wasn't that bulgy. At least, as far as she knew. Alternative universes, different sort of situations, like one where Rose Tyler has a Ganger that wants to kill the Doctor, or one where Sherlock Holmes and Molly Hooper are companions to the Doctor, or even a universe where Rose Tyler caused the Doctor to regenerate several times because of le petite mort. "But the Slitheen are about eight feet. How do they fit inside?"

"That's the device around their necks. Compression field. Literally shrinks them down a bit. That's why there's all that gas. It's a big exchange."

"Kinda weird that they don't look weird." Off the Doctor's look, Leticia explained in her own way. "They made themselves smaller, they compensate for that, but what about extra appendages?" She wiggled three of her fingers for a visual representation. She was _definitely_ not going to mention that whole thing with one of the Slitheen being a omnisexual.

The Doctor stood very still. "Harriet. You saw them kill the general, took his skin."

Harriet shook her head. "I couldn't bear to look, just hear that poor man's screams." Leticia went to Harriet's side and patted her hand as tears started to appear out of her eyes.

The Doctor dropped down, and ghosted his hand on the clean carpet. "They killed this man, took his skin, and not a drop of blood had been spilled."

"So, where did it go?" Rose asked.

Leticia's mind wandered, and for once she hoped it was wrong. "You mean, the compression field has... the rest of him saved up?"

He nodded. "Must be for the special features, keeps the skin fresh and held together, able to fool a blood test, and if your cover consists of going to hospital for a check up on the X rays."

Leticia looked down at the table, her fingers itching to take out her tiny phone, or the other phone. Of course something like that had to have happened. One couldn't just skin a victim and hope that it fits in the right places and not rot until it became a bright purple. Her mind briefly flashed back to those cut scenes from the fifth Five Night at Freddy's game. And if anyone had written a fanfic about David Tennant's Kilgrave encountering Ennard... She felt goosebumps running down her skin. The Slitheen were considered failures as villains, at least for Doctor Who. But they're weren't. For a family that were willing to bomb a whole planet for money, they shouldn't be considered joke villians. And she landed on one of the tamer two parters. What the hell was she going to do when she stayed long enough to land on an impossible planet orbiting a black hole with possible Satan, or when the Master opened the sky and the descendents of the human race fall down and start terrorizing their ancestors or even deal with the bloomin' Daleks! Leticia kept glancing at Rose as she walked around, wondering when she was going to make the joke about fitting in a size smaller. Then again, Rose hadn't heard about what actually goes on while wearing a compression field.

"If only that aspect of the technology was separated, then it could be put to good use." Harriet Jones said as she pulled away a file.

"Might take a while." Leticia replied. "Complicated science and reverse engineering takes more than a Saturday night."

"You seem like a very optimistic young lady, aren't you?"

"That is optimistic for me, Mrs. Jones." She smiled, covering part of it with a closed finger.

"Oh, no dear!" Harriet made an loud chortle. "I'm not married, just Harriet Jones is fine."

She had briefly wondered about the short term Prime Minister's love life, but it was nice to hear about women not being married, like Leticia's own mother. Unless her mom's girlfriend decided to propose to her like she had planned before her grandpa collapsed.

Her mind flashed to her gripping her grandfather as he struggled to walk from the t-

"Harriet Jones." The Doctor repeated, shaking Leticia out of her thoughts. "Harriet Jones. I've heard that name before. You're not famous for anything, are you?"

"Oh, hardly."

"Rings a bell. Harriet Jones?"

"Lifelong backbencher I'm afraid," Harriet Jones shrugged. " and a fat lot of use I'm being now. The Protocols are redundant. They list the people who could help and they're all hospitalized. "

There was something about Harriet Jones, something that was on the tip of Leticia's tongue.

"Hasn't it got, like, defense codes and things?" Rose asked. "Couldn't we just launch a nuclear bomb at 'em?"

Harriet Jones looked at Rose. "You're a very violent young woman."

"I'm serious. We could."

"But," Leticia raised a hand, a habit ingrained from elementary school. "That would be dangerous if just anybody had the release codes." Like a certain buffoon lacking in politics skills.

"Exactly, what was your name?" Harriet smiled in Leticia's direction.

"Leticia Lopez." It felt amazing to tell people her name again. It had been so long. And now she knew. Harriet was doing the same thing she was doing, to stay strong and carry on.

"Lovely name." Harriet complemented the young woman. "Those codes are kept secret by the United Nations, the British Isles can't gain access to atomic weapons without a Special Resolution from the UN." She directed that to Rose, and to the rest of the room.

"Like that's ever stopped them." Rose thought, her mind running back to a couple years ago, to that crazy media coverage because of what happened.

"Exactly, given our past record. And I voted against that, thank you very much. The codes have been taken out of the government's hands and given to the UN."

The Doctor took in the information. Everything was important. He was starting to see the strands he had at his disposal.

"If we only knew what the Slitheen wanted. Listen to me. I'm saying Slitheen as if it's normal."

"Once you become desensitized, it feels normal." Indra said, gently putting blank sheets of paper and pens on the conference table. "We need to find out more about the Slitheen, more than enough to find what they want with Earth." Indra gestured to the pens. "We solved one unique part of them. We might not know if they made them or bought them or nicked them. Only that they have them. So."

"So!" The Doctor interrupted. "You want us to compare facts!"

"Yes, and then you can do the rest! Doctor, you've been around for god knows how long. You're our best shot at not having Slitheen world out there!"

The Doctor nodded in agreement. "You heard the man! Let's get to it!"

Leticia went right to work, careful to write what she had actually experienced compared to what she has seen on her phone. It felt like high school all over again, knowing what was the teacher was getting at, trying her best not to be so gleeful at saying the answer, and finally just writing down what was considered passable in order to not get unwanted attention from the students in the classes that had the most social power.

Everyone, with the exception of the Doctor, wrote a list. Only a few minutes passed in between writing it, and handling it over to the Doctor to figure it out to the best of his ability. He lingered on Leticia's, studying it intensely. He then moved on to Harriet's, perplexed at something. "Harriet Jones, where have I heard that name from?"

"Oh, probably just one of those common surnames you hear, like Smith or Oswald."

_You're telling me,_ Leticia thought, raising an eyebrow at the Oswald.

The sound of a beeping phone interrupted their conversation. "Oh, that's me." Rose said.

Harriet and Indra looked confused. "But we're sealed off. How did you get a signal?" Indra asked.

With a sly smile, Rose pointed at the Doctor, playfully, "He zapped it. Super phone."

"Then we can phone for help. You must have contacts." Harriet insisted.

"Hospitalized in the emergency room, yeah."

Leticia frowned. She bit the inside of her lips to keep from mentioning Yates, Benton, The brigidier himself, and Elizabeth Shaw.

With a relieved smile, Rose said, "It's Mickey."

"Oh, tell your stupid boyfriend we're busy." Doctor Nine said.

Rose showed the group a picture of an electrified Slitheen, giving the Doctor a look which could only be described as 'Never disrespect her man'. "Don't call my boyfriend stupid."

Aside from the interesting direction Rose was taking, when it comes to Mickey, Leticia was dumbfounded at seeing a clear picture on Rose's Nokia. That really was a super phone.

Rose immediately called Mickey. "Mickey, babe! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, the both of us, that alien attacked us in your mum's kitchen! No, no, no, no, no. Not just alien, but like, proper alien. All stinking, and wet, green and disgusting. And more to the point, it wanted to kill us!"

"I could've died!" Her mum shouted from the phone so loudly, it was like she was in front of her.

"Is she all right, though? If she wants to talk-"

The Doctor takes Rose's phone, interrupting Rose.

"Is that Ricky? Don't talk, just shut up and go to your computer."

"It's Mickey, and why should I?"

"Mickey the Idiot, I might just choke before I finish this sentence, but, er, I need you."

Leticia grinned like an idiot behind Nine's back. She wondered the lack of Doctor/Mickey shipping.

"It says password." Mickey's muffed voice said.

The Doctor moved to the conference table, and connected the cell phone with a cord from the phone speaker on the table. "Repeat that."

"It's asking for the password."

"Buffalo. Two Fs, one L."

"So, what's that website?" Jackie asked.

"All the secret information known to mankind. See, they've known about aliens for years. They just kept us in the dark." Mickey said.

"Mickey, you were born in the dark." The Doctor commented.

"Rude." Leticia said, on reflex. She had a half mind to slap him upside of his head.

"Oi, leave him alone!" Rose frowned at her friend. He may be an alien, but that is still no right to treat her boyfriend as he does.

"Thank you, the both of you! Password again."

"Just repeat it every time." The Doctor said. "Big Ben - why did the Slitheen go and hit Big Ben?"

"You said to gather the experts, to kill them." Harriet said.

"That lot would've gathered for a weather balloon. You don't need to crash land in the middle of London."

Leticia furrowed her eyebrows. Did she detect a hint of backstory mystery? Or something more along like L.I.N.D.A?

"The Slitheen are hiding, but then they put the entire planet on Red alert." Rose said. "What would they do that for?"

"Oh, listen to her." Jackie said.

"At least I'm trying." Rose said.

"Well, I've got a question, if you don't mind. Since that man walked into our lives, I have been attacked in the streets. I have had creatures from the pits of hell in my own living room, and my daughter disappear off the face of the Earth. And when she comes back, he brings this strange girl from nowhere that looks like she suffered through hell!" Jackie said.

"Mum, i've told you what happened."

"I'm talking to him. 'Cos I've seen this life of yours, Doctor." Jackie said. "And maybe you get off on it, and maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me. Just answer me this. Is my daughter safe?"

"I'm fine." Rose said.

"Is she safe? Will she always be safe? Can you promise me that? Well, what's the answer?"

"No one's ever safe, Mrs. Tyler." Leticia said. She bit her lip at the slip up, but the Doctor hadn't seem to notice. She might like Jackie a bit more than Rose at times, but Jackie sometimes has this ignorance about her that was a bit irritating.

"Oh." Jackie said in shock. "it's you! What are you doing there?"

"Don't really have anywhere to go. Mrs. Tyler, and no one is ever safe. I used to live in a shack, for years, barely interacting with other people outside my family. And, I might have been safer, physically, but It's limiting. So, trust me, when I say that being safe can never be. Life always has risks, and better to take them when there's an opportunity, than to not take it and keep dwelling on the what ifs."

Rose looked at Leticia, deep in thought. She hadn't really thought of it that way, she wanted her life to be better surely, but she hadn't thought her life before like that. it might have been comfortable, and stable, after Jimmy, but it wasn't fulfilling. She could have done better, her and Mickey could have something so much better. And she settled. No more.

Mickey grabs the phone back. "We're on."

"Now then, on the left at the top, there's a tab, an icon. Little circles. Click on that." Doctor said.

"What is it?" Mickey said.

"The Slitheen have got a spaceship in the North Sea and it's transmitting that signal. Now hush, let me work out what it's saying." The room and the line was silent for a few moments, save for that beeping.

"It's some sort of message." Doctor said.

"What's it say?" Rose said.

"Don't know. It's on a loop, keeps repeating." The sound of a doorbell rang. Mickey's.

Leticia's pulse start to race at the noise.

"Hush!" The Doctor said.

"That wasn't me. Go and see who that is." Mickey said, his voice distant.

"It's three o'clock in the morning." Jackie's voice started to fade.

"Well, go and tell them that."

"It's beaming out into space, who's it for?" The Doctor said.

The sound of running was heard, and Jackie's voice sounded ragged. "It's him! It's the thing, it's the Slipeen!" Jackie half shouted.

"They've found us." Mickey stated.

_Fecking hell_ , Leti thought.

* * *

-5-8

Author Note

Okay, Originally, this chapter was a lot longer, getting into the part where the Green meanies shows up and up to where they had to blow up Downing Street. But then, one day, I saw unedited word count, it was over 1,000! So I had to split them. Then revising and double checking, and adding a paragraph there, lead to over 7000 words. I was considering halfing it again when Nine closed the door, but it felt too abrupt.

And, more to the point, I've started work on this chapter for more than half a year. I've saved this chapter on a Sd chip. And during my brief time, staying with those people, and dealing what I had to deal, I had to have this hidden from them, as they had already went through my things, stolen my usb drives, ruin the clothes I've had for years, along with stealing my money, my documents. When I left them, by choice, I had unfitted clothed, my belt from my mother, way too small shoes, money, and this chip.

I've wanted to post this right after I've made that note, but life in a shelter is hard. It didn't necessarily made me hard, but I had to put myself first, getting what I needed first. And things are better. Now it's been two months in a new living program that's helping me become independent, I'm in classes, checking for jobs. Things are getting good, even with the recent cold snap. I'll keep on trying and bettering my situation.

Thank you so much for people who follow my Tumblr page, where some of you could know more about my situation.

I hope to find the time to expand and revise the next chapter in time for New years, maybe.

I'm also awaiting any and all reviews for this chapter, and my story as a whole. Even if it's misspelled, or in slang words, or the like. I just really wanna know how many people read my story.

Also, Sia has really great music to edit a chapter, too. I was debating between Unstoppable and Salted wound, but only one really has relevance to this chapter.

 

 


	5. Night's Sweet Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will not Translate the Spanish, if you like, you can google translate or ask a grandmother.

 

 

 

 

Greetings, guys, gals, and non-binary pals.

I wished I had a better reason for not updating sooner. I have a internship, still doing school and that has taken a lot of my time. And I am working on finishing up, to be able to get into college, so that'll make a mighty big impact on the status of the current series. And the various others I had foolishly started in the implication that they would be short stories.

* * *

I had met Sherlock Holmes at a time when adolescence and the devastating circumstances of my orphaning had left me with an exterior toughness and an interior that was malleable to the personality of anyone willing to listen to me and take me seriously. Had Holmes had been a cat burglar or forger, no doubt I should have come into adulthood learning to walk parapets at night or concocting arcane inks.

A monstrous regiment of woman - Laurie R King

* * *

_Cripes, cripes, cripes on a stick! Fecking bullwinkle!_ Leticia could only look at the phone, internally trying not to break her not-swearing vow, in horror at the impending crisis. And prayed that everything stayed the course.

"Mickey, I'm gonna need that signal." The Doctor said, gripping the chair to not show his fear.

"Never mind the signal," Rose shouted, alarmed. "Get out! Mum, Just get out! Get out!"

" _We can't. It's by the front door. Oh, my God, it's unmasking. It's going to kill us._ " Mickey said.

"Fire escape, an dish elevator, a bolt hole, something useful in your flat to escape out of?" Leti said.

" _I'm not Richie Rich!_ " Mickey said, bewildered.

Harriet turned to the Doctor, gesturing to the papers. "Please, You're supposed to be the expert, think of something!"

"I'm trying!" The Doctor said.

" _I'll take it on, Jackie. You just run. Don't look back._ " Mickey said. " _Just run_."

Rose looked back at the Doctor and Harriet, her eyes narrowing at the intense look in his eyes. She and Mickey... they're on shaky ground. And from his end, she's been gone a whole year. And he's being as brave as she hoped he would have been, yesterday with the plastic. She wanted more than anything to have the chance that they can work to repair what they have to fix. "My mum and my _boyfriend_ are in danger. Do _something_!"

The Doctor looked to his determined companion. After all these decades, to be able to see her face again, how can he refuse a request? With a grunt, he grabbed the papers from Harriet's hand and read them as fast as he could. He threw the others to the floor, and looked to Harriet. "What do you mean by this?"

From Leticia's view, she could make out the words 'Doesn't have common flatulence smell.' She smiled in relief. Right on, Miss Jones!

"Ahh, that one. Well, haven't you notice that when they fart, if you'll pardon the word," Harriet said to the room. "it doesn't just smell like a fart, if you'll pardon the word, it's something else. It's smells more like, um..."

"That _smell_ he gave off, when I first met him, I thought it was because of bad hygiene habits, but it smelt like bad breath!" Indra said, his eyes widen in realization.

"That's it!" Harriet agreed.

"Calcium decay! Now, that narrows it down!" Doctor said, turning to Leticia, with a feral grin, to Leti's confusion.

"We're close, you two!" Rose said to the phone.

" _Better hurry, door's almost broken in!_ "

"Calcium phosphate. Organic calcium. Living calcium. Creatures made out of living calcium. What else? What else?" The Doctor stopped talking, his stance clearly showing perplexity.

Leticia snapped her fingers, not wanting to lose anymore time they barely had. "Really long name for an alien. Just like in Chilpancingo. Space Mexico!"

Nine snapped his fingers, beaming at the young woman. "Hyphenated surname. Pure dead brilliant! That narrows it down to one planet. Raxacoricofallapatorius!" The Doctor said.

" _Oh, yeah, great. We could write 'em a letter, as it's being all bad wolf on the door_!"

Leticia's joy at being acknowledged smothered into numbness at the bad wolf reference. _Small ripples..._

"The Doctor's gonna get you a new door!" Rose said.

Sputtering, at the thought of fixing anything of Mickey's, The Doctor bit out, "Get into the kitchen!" The door snapping mixed in with the rushed voices of Jackie and Mickey filled in the air. " _My God, it's going to rip us apart_!" Jackie said.

"Calcium, weakened by the compression field. Acetic acid. Vinegar!" He snapped his fingers in happiness.

"Just like Hannibal!" Harriet said.

Leticia hugged herself reminding herself that it wasn't a reference to the famous cannibal.

" _How should I know?_ " Mickey said, confused.

"Just like Hannibal." The Doctor said. "Mickey, have you got any vinegar?"

"Kitchen, Cupboard by the sink, middle shelf!" Rose shouted. " _Oh, give it here. What do you need?_ " Jackie's voice echoed. "Anything with vinegar!" Doctor said. " _Gherkins. Yeah, pickled onions. Pickled eggs_."

The Doctor turned back to Rose, surprised. "And you kiss this man?"

" _He_ practices good hygiene habits!" Rose said, defensibly.

Another fallen door, a growl and a roar, pitched vinegar products cocktail, thrown contents of vinegar cocktail, a wet fart sound, then sound of explosion.

"Mum, Mickey?" Rose asked, on edge. "Are you there?"

" _We're fine, we're okay, Rose_." Mickey said.

All of them slum their backs in relief. Indra took the time to fill glasses with the port."You gonna get it when we get back there." Rose said, a teasing smile lighting her face. " _Can't wait._ " Her smile deepened at his flirty tone. "Might have to deal with alien gunk stinking up the walls." She giggled, she couldn't help herself.

Leticia looked on at Rose talking to Mickey, unsure of how to feel. Thinking to hell with consequences, she turned to Harriet. "Which Hannibal were you referring just earlier?

"The Hannibal crossed the Alps by dissolving boulders with vinegar." Harriet said, in a way that seemed, to Leticia, that it had to have been obvious.

"I'm gonna take that on in my brain, use it for later." Leti raised her glass at Harriet. "To the hero of the hour." Everyone else, including Rose, raised their glass at Harriet.

Leti smiled goofly as she took her first sip of port. Her eyes felt like it could pop out of her skull. Her throat had a human made path of adoring fire. She grinned wildly. "Fan-tas-tic!" She said in a sing song tone. All those movies, shows, her mom's girlfriend, how could she think it was a bad thing, drinking.

* * *

-5-8-

Leticia looked down at her old beat-up white phone, finishing up a 90,000 word fanfic that she started reading over the past few days. She has been busy lately. Watching Strangers things, finishing up the mini series Victoria, she was absolutely busy with her grandfather out of the house lately. She made breakfast, and lunch for three, ever since her mom's girlfriend came back from the city over. Her mom called her to warn her of her arrival, since she would still be sleeping in the hospital.

She had finished throwing out the garbage, and the small bag of cans Big Hips decided to drink in the 12 hours since she arrived to her small blue box shack. The nerve of that woman! She cleaned up the area, clean the floors because of the dog. She had to be busy, she couldn't just sit down, watch Doctor Who again, while her grandpa still had to stay at the hospital.

"Come here." The woman gestured over to her, to sit by her side.

Leti couldn't help but comply. After having limited interaction with humanity for several months, and the lack of her mother's appearance to talk with someone, even it's it just the various Mexican soap operas that appear and end in less than a year, it was nice to have her girlfriend around. Even if there's something she couldn't put her finger on about her as a whole. "What? What is it?"

"Your mother and I have been talking, and the treatments that your grandfather needs, it'll be too much money."

Leti frowned. "He has insurance."

"It won't be enough." The woman assured and turned to face Leti. "Your mother, she is clearly affected. She is tired everyday, in the hospital, waiting for news. She used to be much happier, we used to go out to restaurants together, to the parties, she was happy."

' _Happy because she had a vacation from having to take care of two older people 24/7 in a small box with less money a month you give her._ ' But Leticia didn't dare to voice them out loud, she remembered what happened with the bed seat incident.

"I think it's time that we have to face the sad truth."

"Meaning?" Leti's heart raced at her implication.

"He won't survive."

Leti looked away from her, shaking her head. "He could, it wasn't like he fell off the mountain. He could make it-"

"He has a disease, and he lost a toe. At the rate his leg was coloring, it wasn't good. It's better this way. For you, your mother, who can now help my mother better." Leti looked at the woman that her mother has known for several years. "It could cost a lot more moving him to a home, and I'm not making enough for that to be possible."

_Who was she even working with before she came back to Mexico?_ Leti grazed the inside of her thumb with a different finger. "He can make it."

"He isn't the same grampa you knew. He died years ago. Someone else was in his body." Leti looked back at her. "Remember the ranting he made about people trying to get at him, trying to put metal in his head, while he kept picking at his head so much he was bleeding from his scalp. It was a miracle he found his way back here." She gestured to Leti's box. "We have to let go. A cremation would be cheaper."

Leti looked back at the woman once, opening her mouth to counter argue, when the sound of a familiar combie stopped near their area. It was her uncle. They left the house in under five minutes, coughing loudly as a hug her uncle gave her mom's girlfriend lingered too long for her liking.

* * *

-5-8-

Leticia kept wiggling her fingers, as the phone speaker played the false speak from Not-A-Real-Politician. "Ladies and gentlemen, nations of the world, humankind. The greatest experts in extra-terrestrial events came here tonight. They gathered in the common cause, but the news I bring you now is grave indeed." The fake Prime Minster continued on. "By a hairbreadth of a second, these experts were almost dead. I almost born witness to a massacre by aliens hands. I was one of the few to escape the others' fate. Peoples of the Earth, heed my warnings. These visitors do not come in peace."

The buzz she had was better than she thought she would get. Even with not having enough sleep for the past three days, she felt this burst of energy. She helped herself to a second glass, making sure she had it full this time. Any more of the stuff, they were gonna have a kiki. Keeping her eye on the kindling on Ricky. Rose and Mickey, not misnaming Mickey, again. The response time that Mickey had was interesting, to say the least.

Rose was starting to grow on Leti, she had misjudged the London woman. Or Leti had misjudged this universe, despite everything so far, things are moving rather smoothly. She saved two lives, maybe repaired a relationship, and figured out that whole issues about the lack of blood when the Slithdeen transfer. Which wasn't really one of the main burning questions she had about the show, most of them really revolves around the Moffat era of the show.

If the Tenth Doctor could go on and on about the banes and virtues of humankind, then she could indulge in a bit of accomplishments. Not putting herself down, again. He's almost as bad as Seven in manipulation. Seven, March.

March 7th, 2006.

She smiled at the thought, looking down at her plastic lid on the side of the table as soon as she did. Another all-nighter for her.

"- the sky above our heads and they have found massive weapons of destruction capable of being deployed within forty five seconds."

"What?" Nine said.

"Our technicians can baffle the alien probes, but not for long. We are facing extinction, unless we strike first. The United Kingdom stands directly beneath the belly of the mother ship. I beg of the United Nations, pass an emergency resolution. Give us the access codes. A nuclear strike at the heart of the beast is our only chance of survival because from this moment on it is my solemn duty to inform you planet Earth is at war."

"He's making it up. There's no weapons up there, there's no threat. He just invented it." The Doctor said.

"Do you think they'll believe him?" Harriet said.

"They did last time." Indra said, his face shadowed in thought.

"That's why the Slitheen went for spectacle. They want the whole world panicking, because you lot, you get scared, you lash out." The Doctor said.

"It just has to reach the ones paranoid and with the power to actually change things." Leti said. "Or who's malleable enough to go along with it."

"And when it reaches them, they release the defense code -" Rose was interrupted.

"And the Slitheen go nuclear." The Doctor said.

"It'll be World war three." Indra said softly.

"A war to end the whole world." Leticia couldn't wrap her mind around it. "That's downright mad."

The Doctor nodded at them grimly, and opened the metal shutters. Three Slithdeen family members were in the middle of a conversation, turning around at the uncovered threshold. "You get the codes, release the missiles, but not into space because there's nothing there. You attack every other country on Earth." Blon, cloaked back in her Margaret skin, walked to the front of her family to see the huddled group of humanoids. "They retaliate, fight back. World War Three. Whole planet gets nuked."

"And we can sit through it safe in our spaceship waiting in the Thames. Not crashed, just parked. Only two minutes away."

"Isn't that a risk for your family?" Leti asked softly. "You've thought that part through, haven't you?"

Blon scowled at her. "Yes, we have talked among one another to do this together, as a family. If you can understand the concept of trust within family."

"And yet look what you decided to do with your lives. Just as bad as drug dealers."

"How are they just as bad as drug dealers?" Indra asked.

"They just are, okay?" Blon snorted derisively. "What?

"A swotty child managed to main me? And here I thought humans your size are adults."

"Don't judge the whole of the human race by me."

"Why would you, and your family agree to destroy this beautiful planet?" Harriet questioned

"Profit. That's what the signal is beaming into space. An advert." The Doctor concluded.

"The sale of the century. We reduce the Earth to molten slag, then sell it piece by piece. Radioactive chucks, capable of powering every cut-price star liner and budget cargo ship. There's a recession out there, Doctor. People are buying cheap. This rock becomes raw fuel."

"At the cost of five billion lives. "

"Bargain."

"Why this one? Surely you could have found other, empty planets that could be used." Indra said.

Blon looked to Indra. "Have you ever been out to space before, boy?"

"I haven't." He confessed, scowling at her.

"My family has, and that recession applies to us as well. True, we could have scan the whole galaxy, see if Mars would have been a better choice. But even for a backwater planet like yours, you have a tremendous amount of options to _play_ with."

The Doctor took all of this in, his final decision made. "I give you a choice. Leave this planet or I'll stop you."

"What, you? Trapped in your box?"

The Doctor closed the shutters on Margaret's laughing face.

* * *

-5-8-

In her mind, as she layed down to sleep on her futon mattress, on the wooden part of the bed, she was at peace. Leticia was a bit worried as she had to help her grandfather up the steps, then when he couldn't get up to use the bathroom, she had to call her mother. By chance, the rest of her family were busy at a party, while her mother and her girlfriend were in another city. So of course she called her mother. She barely had enough money to call anyone.

All Leti wanted was to go back, to the states, where her grandfather could get better help, better people to look after him. That completed school, and knew what they were doing.

By the time they came to take him, she had helped her grandfather used the bucket for the bathroom, gave him a good shirt to wear, and changed out his sandles to the newer ones her mother bought for his birthday. She gave him lots of liquids, designed for him to received protein. She talked to him that he was going to get better in the hospital. She clung to him, said those three words.

Her mother and her girlfriend came in, just in time, Leti was cleaning her grandpa's leg. She had called and texted her mother for the past two hours, hoping to get them to come in time. Then her uncle then came, and ordered a taxi, they were cheaper that way. And he and her grandfather went to hospital, for an overnight trip.

During the brief moment, where either everyone else has gone, or slept, Leti laid down her head at the piece of the seat her uncle brought home, so her grandfather could sleep well instead of just the wooden bed. She inhaled his scent as she cried into his blankets.

When they came back, later in the wee hours of the morning, she moved back to her small room, with fragile walls and with her dog sleeping on her bed, she felt it. That calming peace.

* * *

"Yesterday saw the start of a brave new world. Today might see it end. The streets are deserted. Everyone's home, just waiting, as the future is decided in New York." A newscaster said through the still plugged-in-phone in the speaker.

"It's midnight here in New York. The United Nations has gathered. England has provided them with absolute proof that the massive weapons of destruction do exist. " An american female caster said. "The Security Council will be making a resolution in a matter of minutes, and once the codes are released, humanity's first interplanetary war begins."

_Now that just screams dramatic_ , Leticia thought. _This is going to end well, it will end well, it wouldn't be screwed up to the point the planet is nuked, no it won't._

" _All right, Doctor. I'm not saying I trust you, but there must be something you can do_." Jackie said over the phone.

"If we could ferment the port, we could make acetic acid." Harriet said. "Would that be enough to fight against the family?" Indra asked. "It wouldn't hurt to try." Leticia said. "Anything is better than nothing."

"Mickey, babe, any luck?" Rose said. Leti did a double take at the 'babe'.

" _There's loads of emergency numbers. They're all on voicemail._ " Mickey said.

"We're running out of luck." Harriet said.

_Now it would have been an amazing time for a timey wimey time loop,_ Leti thought. And looked to the Doctor. She knew, that he knew that he had other options, but for his own reasons, didn't want to take them.

"I don't believe that, we can find a way out of here." Rose said. "And out of Downing Street."

"There's a way out." The Doctor said. "What?" Rose said. "There's always been a way out." The Doctor said. "You've have got to be kidding me! Then why don't we use it?" Rose asked.

"Because I can't guarantee your daughter will be safe." The Doctor said, saying to the phone. _"Don't you dare. Whatever it is, don't you Dare._ " Jackie said. "That's the thing. If I don't dare, everyone dies." The Doctor said.

"We have to chance it." Leti agreed with her.

"Do it." Rose said.

"You don't even know what it is. You'd just let me?" The Doctor asked, turning to both of them.

Leti and Rose turned to each other, a smile playing on both of their lips. "Yeah," "Yup," They both said at the same time.

" _Please Doctor. Please. She's my daughter. She's just a kid. What if she was your daughter and you heard that this was happening to them?_ " Jackie said. The Doctor took a deep breath. "I was a father, once. I lost them. Jackie, this is my life now. It's not fun, it's not smart, it's just standing up and making a decision because nobody else will." The Doctor said. " _Oh my god_."

"Then what're you waiting for?" Rose said, a sad smile on her lips.

"I could save the world but lose both of you."

Leti looked at the Doctor in the eyes, incredulous to that. He wasn't suppose to say it to her. She wasn't anything to him. They've only just met! "And yourself. How can you make a choice like that without thinking of yourself too?" In the Doctor's gaze, it was like she was with her grandfather, at the prime of his life.

"Except it's not your decision, Doctor. It's _mine_." Harriet said.

" _And who the hell are you to decide that?_ " Jackie said.

"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people for the people. And on behalf of the people, I command you. Do it." Harriet said.

"So, how are we getting out of here?" Rose asked.

The Doctor grinned at her. "The cupboard express!" Leticia frowned. "When I was friends with the old Prime Minster, I didn't just help with the metal." "Did you just planned ahead that this would be an just-in-case thing?" "I was a different man back then." "Oh, of course." The Doctor grabbed the Emergency Protocols from the Red Box.

The Doctor moved to the phone. "Use the buffalo password. It overrides everything." " _Would it include non-military stuff?_ " "This is not the time and and the place for this!"

"Spoilsport." Leti mutters.

"Everyone else, clear the cupboard, we're gonna ride this one out without bumps and bruises." Rose directed to everyone.

As Rose, Harriet, and Indra were clearing the cupboard, and The Doctor was talking to Mickey about hacking into the royal Navy to get a HMS Taurean sub harpoon, ten miles off the coast of Plymouth, Leti moved her body to hide her smartphone away from everyone, and discretely took pictures of the cabinet room. Chances were hard to come by.

"Five five six neutralized." Mickey said. The Doctor unplugs the phone, cueing Leticia to run to the closet. She settled in right next to Indra. She darted her eyes around the room, stopping on 'Bad Wolf', etched in the cabinet's skin.

_At least history hasn't been broken yet._ Leti reached out to trace the words with her finger, just as her fingers touched the letter 'B', The Doctor rushed in the cabinet's closet. "Everyone here and accounted for?"

"Aye, aye, cap _tain_!" Leti said with a dosh of sarcasm.

"Here we go. Nice knowing you both. Hannibal!" Harriet said, everyone grabbing each other's hands.

Leticia felt the vibrations of the missile, before the closet started to move on it's own.

Her vision started to blur, instead of the dark cramped closet, she saw a light being turned on, with two heavy set figures overshadowing Leti. One of them moved away from the light, showing an very familiar American style kitchen.

She felt a sharp pain, as she was pulled from behind her head up from her knees to stand. "Why are you doing this?" She started to wiggle away from the person, as her vision started to blacken, while the world before her, in contrast, becoming clearer. The face scrowling at her, hatred in her eyes

"Dorri?"

* * *

 

She forgot her I.D, her old student one, but it still counts. Apparently. Running in the hospital was frown upon, which is why Leti took her time in walking up to the fourth floor of the hosptial. Her Uncle and her mom's girlfriend waiting outside. Her grandfather could only have a few visitors at a time.

She found the right wing, and lucky for her, she saw her darker skinned lawyer aunt just outside the door. She was busy on the phone, taking to someone in their family about what happened, but stopped as soon as Leti reached her. " _Hija_ ," Her great aunt gave her a hug.

" _Y mi mama_?" Leti asked about her mother.

" _El la cuarto con tu abuelo_." Her great aunt told her that her mom was in the room with her grandfather.

Leticia smiled, at least she could see her grandfather after how many days she had missed him. Before she could ask her aunt about how long she was waiting with her mother for, her mother walked out of the room, took one look at her, and clung to Leticia.

Her mother's face said it all. Leticia felt a shiver down her spine.

Her mother pulled away from Leticia, her mother was pale, with dark bags under her eyes, clearly showing the brunt of sleeping in the hospital for several days.

" _El estaba preguntando por ti_." Her mother said, telling her that her grandfather was asking for Leti.

'' _El era?_ " Leti, asking her that he was.

" _Todavía puedes ver lo que queda de él_."

Leticia moved to the room, took in the beeping monitor, the white hospital room, how it has windows despite them over looking the lobby, and the open milky eyes of her grandfather.

"Grandpa?" She moved to touch him, his body was so cold.

* * *

I know, took a minute to finish, wanted to go beyond the bombing of 10 Downing Street.

The flashbacks are going to end eventually, as I wanted you all to get a glimpse into the mind of Leti. And on that point, what was that near the end when the missile hit 10 Downing street? Was it a vision of what's to come, or something more sinister?

I would love a review, even a few words of joy. I love when someone post a comments about my works, it's brings me life!

Post date : March 6th 2018 (I wanted to post this on the seventh, but I am going to busy that day fixing up my schedule for the new semester.)

Date for previous chapter: 11/11/2017

 

 


	6. A Little Bit Of History Deviation

 

 

 

 

Leticia was an _idiot_. How could she think she could just touch a crack that looked to be illuminated by the sun, and would transport her into blooming Doctor Who? She moved her hand back from the crack, numbness seeping in through her core. She couldn't escape. If she wanted to, where else would she go off to? To live her life trapped in the mountain nursing baby number 13 while her husband comes home smelling like beer and cheap perfume?

'Work smarter, not harder,' Leticia took one step back from the crack. Her left hand started to pulse rapidly. She moved it, only to frown at the similar markings on the lines in her palm, disturbingly similar to that crack. She couldn't remember if she did have that before, and just forgot.

The road started to vibrate under her feet, a low hum growing in decibels. Leticia looked up at the thing responsible for making that sound.

* * *

" **What the hell is that sound**?" The Slitheen disgusted as Joseph Green covered the small holes to shield the most annoying sound he had heard in existence. The rest of his family followed his lead. Blon could only cover one of the holes, because she couldn't tolerate moving her arm that had the vinegar burn.

A strange Sergeant burst into the room out of nowhere. "Sir, there's a-" He stopped at the sight of the family. "Wrongroomsorry!" He swiftly closed the door behind him.

Blon looked to Furt Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen, the Slitheen that was formally dressed up as General Asquinth. who looked non-plussed by the Sargent's appearance. " **Should we go after him**?!"

" **Why should we? Their lives are seconds away from total nuclear fallout! They'll be mutants! Who would want to hunt them like that?** " The rest of the family shouted among themselves.

" **But then why would they sound the alarm**?" Blon asked her brother, upset that he was all too dismissive of her. " **It would have to be a _big_ deal if they're sounding an alarm!**"

" **Those pesky humans would only sound the _blasted_ alarm when there's an immediate danger**..." Furt trailed out as he realized that that might be the situation, in this case.

As the seconds ticked by, all of them looked up to the ceiling. Even with their were able to pick up distinctive sounds from a mile away. They heard the whistling noise far too late to make an escape.

" **Oh**. _Bollocks._ " Blon uttered.

* * *

For a moment, Rose felt like she had the biggest hangover she's had yet. Before she stumbled onto plastic dummies down at Henricks', she used to enjoy just doing a pub crawl with Suki, Kesha Selby and Shareen. She would wake up, and one of them would try their many, many hangover cure. They never found the right one to cure in a day. Of course, once Rose stopped saying stuff like that guy running her life down to the ground, then the pub crawl eventually stop.

She remembered the last one they did, a week before, a whole week, before Rose had any inkling of the Doctor. They were enjoying themselves, laughing about their crap jobs, and crummy flats. Then something occurred to her while she helped Suki with her hair not touching the toilet water. She still had time, she wasn't an old maid yet. She could do so much more.

The sound of heavy breathing brought Rose down to reality, moving herself away from the tangled limbs, hindering her escape. She winched at the new aches along her back, front, and her legs. Her jaw, from the left side, was aching. She waited a few seconds to be sure it wasn't just the 'pins and needles' effect she tended to get so often when sitting Indian-style. She still felt one of her ankles _throbbing_.

She swished her mouth, tasted the familiar tang of blood. She checked her teeth to see if one of them was loose.

As the noise faded, wheezing and groaning, Rose could heard the Doctor, or at least it might be the Doctor's echo. He moved to her side. "Rose," He waved his screwdriver at her like a magic wand. She looked at the small cut on his face, to distract her from the blinding light. For so She half expected to hear him say, 'Expecto Patrono.' "Could be better, but not all that banged up."

" _You_ have _horrible_ bedside manors."

"I'm not a practicing _medical_ Doctor!"

"You have all the time in the world to go to uni!"

"Life is more than learning from uni-" Before The Doctor could give a response, Harriet Jones and Indra moved up, in much better condition then themselves. "Oh dear, are you two alright?" Harriet said, dusting herself off.

" _I'll live_!" Rose tried not to shout, not that she could hear much if people weren't yelling.

" **Not sure about my ear drums!** " The Doctor, shouted back. Just like the blokes from the estate. He winced at the cut on his cheek.

Rose squinted, looking around for anyone else. She quickly moved to the all-dressed-in-black figure in the corner, "Oh my god, she's not moving!"

The Doctor rushed over to Rose's side. He opened Leticia's eyelids and use the light function on his sonic to get her pupils to respond. Her eyes were moving rapidly, like she was in a state of REM. Her vitals were in the range of average. The Doctor moved Leticia's head, in an effort to carry her, but he stopped himself, when he felt a rather large bump on the back of her head, he pulled his hand back, the tip of his fingers covered with red tinted blood.

Rose looked away from the sight, checking in her pockets for her phone. "I'll call Mickey."

"If he can get here in _less_ than half an hour, that would be bloomin' good." The Doctor wanted to say something much stronger, but changed his word at the last second. He bend his knees, in order to support himself to carry the young immagrant.

"Made in Britain." Harriet said, off in the distance.

"Seriously?" Both of them walked to Harriet and Indra. Compared to them, they look none worst for wear. Like they've walked off a set from the telly. Indra was looking around the remains of 10 Downing Street, he stood near the Prime Minster's office was, deliberately looking away from the pile of bodies of the Slitheen family.

"Do you always managed to end up in this situations?" He asked the Doctor. He stopped what he was doing and looked down at Leticia's still body. "She's **_dead_**?"

Rose moved away from the crowd as her phone, still in working condition, and called her boyfriend. Her eyes widen as someone else answered.

The Doctor looked on at the police block down both ends of the street, Downing street did just blow up to bits. A piece of history, destroyed in one fell swoop.

"Tell him to meet us near the Montgomery Statue at the corner of-"

"Whitehall and Richmond Terrance, I live in London, you know?" Rose shouted, then regretted it one second later, with her jaw starting to hurt again. She turned back to her phone call. "He's done _what_..."

"Don't you want to take her to hospital?" Indra asked The Doctor, rubbing his hands. A bit distressed at the whole situation.

The Doctor shook his head. "What's going on with her, can't be settle by the medical help right here."

Indra looked down at the pale woman, he read the files, and saw the pictures, but it was odd to him that she looked so much younger. If only he had the chance to talk with her about what happened with Queen Elizabeth when she was awake. "Is she also an alien?"

The Doctor looked back at the secretary, and for one moment, he hoped that his next sentence was true . "Just human, enough that'll baffle modern doctors."

Before Indra can questioned what the hell the Doctor meant, the Sargent that was in 10 Downing Street was lightly jogging towards them. "Oh, my God. I didn't think anyone else that weren't those aliens were still in the building, has anyone else come out?" He looked around frantically.

The Doctor looked back at the Sargent.

"Wait, did you see bright green bulgy eyes aliens?" Indra asked the Sargent.

"Are there _more_ around here?" The Sargent moved his head around frantically.

"None that you need to worry about, Sargent." Harriet lead the conversation away from that relevant topic. "Harriet Jones." She held out her card. MP, Flydale North." She put her card away. "I want you to contact UN immediately. Tell the ambassadors the crisis is over. They can step down. Go on, tell the news." Harriet said.

"Yes, ma'am." Price said.

"Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out. Oh, Lord. We haven't even got a Prime Minister." Harriet said.

"Maybe you should have a go." The Doctor said. He smiled, despite how much the world has changed, Britian will still have their golden age.

"Me? Huh. I'm only a back-bencher." Harriet said.

"Sometimes human surprise you, so many years of seeing that in person." He looked down at the small human in his arms.

Harriet frowned. "Will she be alright?"

"I can only guarantee that she'll be nursed back to health, not everyone can be alright."

Harriet took that as a sign of reassurance. "I better go and see if I can help elsewhere then." Indra Ganesh walked up to her. "You don't mind a bit of talk with the press?"

"I think I can stomach an hour." Indra said as they walked off towards the police barrior near the end of the street and Whitehall.

Rose walked back to the Doctor, finishing wiping the tears from her eyes. "I got us a ride," Rose looked ahead to see Harriet Jones walk off. "Right where you said." Her voice was clipped.

The Doctor looked back at Rose as they started to head off down the street. "I thought I knew the name."

"Who?" Her gaze was unfocused as they walked along the street. She hadn't realized how long a year could be. How could it have been so long?

"Harriet Jones, future Prime Minister." In the distance, they could hear Harriet shouting, "We're safe! The Earth is safe!"

"Wait, really?"

"The architect of Britain's Golden Age." The Doctor smirked at the thought of knowing that Rose's world would be in safe hands for the near future.

"The crisis has passed! Ladies and gentlemen, I have something to say to you all here today! Mankind stands tall, proud and undefeated. God bless the human race." Harriet's voice traveled on as they walked father away from her.

"It's like she's been practicing," Rose said off-handlely. They stopped at the staute, where a bright gleaming white car was running. The person that exited the car, didn't look a thing like Mickey. He was a blonde hair man, clearly older than Rose, close to age with Mickey, with his hair just as long as Rose's, slim, with his clothes worlds different from the people the Doctor endured a whole afternoon with at the estates.

"Where's Mickey?" Rose asked, to the Doctor's confusion, with an undertone of fondness.

"He's napping at the old flat, with mum, not like together, but, um... something about not having a door anyone, with that nasty alien I bet."

"An alien?" The Doctor asked.

He snorted. "Mickey showed me the picture of the Slitheen, not in person." The blonde haired man wrapped his arms around Rose. "It's been a hell of a year!"

Rose's eyes started to tear up. "I missed you, Gabe."

"Missed you too, Rosey." The man looked up to The Doctor, and grinned. The Doctor still stayed stone-faced, which was pare for the course.

Rose pulled away from Gabe to open the car for the Doctor and Leti. "Please tell me you're full-petrol!"

"I'm a cabbie now, have to be prepared."

Rose entered the seat right next to Gabe, smiling in relief, while The Doctor, now settled with Leticia taking the majority of the space, asked, "So, are you Mickey's flatmate or something?"

Gabe frowned as he started the car, looking back at the Doctor. There was a long moment before he answered. "I'm Rose's brother. "

The Doctor didn't say a word as they drove back to the Powell Estate. He let Rose and... this man who's clearly pretending to be related to her, talk among themselves, while The Doctor checked on Leti.

During those 100 years, between leaving Rose behind, and picking her up again, he had bouts of encountering Rose, whenever he ended in London pre-2005, but he had never seen her with an older brother.

"Doctor," Rose started to say to the Doctor, as Gabriel, or Gabe, as he liked to be called, parked right in front of the TARDIS, and the Doctor carried Leticia out of the car. "I need to have to-"

The Doctor cuts her off. "Do what you have to do, family matters. Have to take care of our new passenger."

Rose nodded, and walked away, towards her brother.

The Doctor watched as they headed off to their flat, mentally putting Gabe Tyler on the back burner.

Opening his door was a bit of trouble, but as soon as he open it, after having moved Leticia to his shoulder, there was an bass deepen sound, pulsing every four seconds. He closed the Door, and carried Leticia to the med bay.

* * *

 

-5-8-

The car stopped a foot away from Leticia. Well, it would be more accurate to say that her uncle's borrowed mini-bus stopped a foot away from her. The door slid open, revealing her mother's teary eyed face, and her barely affected girlfriend.

Leticia, her grief coming back full force, jumped into the bus without a word, without a doubt, heading towards the shared land her great Aunt has took upon herself to open for them to live on.

Leticia focused on the colorful houses as they started to grow in abundance, until she saw her blue box coming into view, and the sound of her mixed breed dog acting like a high pitched trumpet.

She held her dogs in her arms, and looked around the inside of their cramped shack, and couldn't help like she missed an opportunity.

* * *

 

-5-8-

The Doctor bowed his head as he set down the man- pig hybrid down on the coffin. "Please take good care of him."

The Wide Wing of the High Shansheeth Nest bowed back. They were honored as much as they could be to handle someone of importance, especially to the Doctor. "We will do our best to find out this man name, and prepare him for deconstruction."

"Thank you," The Doctor moved away, towards his TARDIS.

"You can't outrun your trail of bones, Doctor." The Doctor stopped. "Not everyone knows of you, aside from me and a few high rankers. When they savagen for the dead, we could only find the ones that were fighting with the lowest tech imaginable. Then there's the rest of the affected tangibly involved with the War. Even a few scattered from Gallifrey." The Doctor turned back. "You tout yourself as the Last of the Time Lord, when there's a few of your brethen from the Drylands, the Sisterhood of Karn... You are Not Alone, not truely."

The Doctor glared. Without a word, he went back in his TARDIS, and left.

 

* * *

 

The first thing Leticia notices after opening her eyes, was that she was back in reality, in a matter of speaking. She couldn't feel any aches anywhere. She smiled at the Doctor, who slowly smiled back. "Doctor,"

"Welcome back to the land of the living,"

* * *

 

-8-8-

A/N:

IT'S BEEN A WHILE, i KNOW!

I can only say that I had up to 7,000 words, so I had to narrow it down, again. Good news, there is now no 'Boom Town' now, since Blon is officially dead. She, or anyone else from that clan, will not come back. Just to make that clear, and I'll still rework it someone for certain future events. So, now for Gabriel Tyler, that is a timey wimey issue, that Leticia is definitely a part of it, meddling through time, since The Doctor clearly knew Rose was an only kid. And I've taken a bit of inspiration from that RTD novel before Doctor Who and one of the Mark Gatiss episodes from the matt Smith era.

And as to what's going on with Leticia, you'll just have to wait and see. All I say with surety, Leticia is not dreaming her Doctor who adventures. Which is really confirmed since you followed Rose's and the Doctor's pov.

Give me any sort of feedback! Any is appreciated by me!

 

 


	7. Sunshine and Rainbows,

 

 

 

 

Greeting guys, gals and non-binary pals! It has been a long few months. With work, collage, I've aged up a lot since starting this story. I really to make things a bit less complex.

I basically had to rewrite this whole chapter. Again, enjoy!

* * *

However, those who studied, build and designed such vessels knew better. The longer the journey, the more important interpersonal interaction became. Conversing via handhelds or the omnipresent ship's system was fast and efficient, but it did nothing for the human psyche. In the vast impersonal emptiness of interstellar space, proximity to a smile, a smell, a sweat, kept humanness real and alive. The mental heath of the crew was as important as the physical heath of the ship.

-Alien:Covenant, the novelization by Alan Dean Foster

* * *

mal de coucou

n. a phenomenon in which you have an active social life but very few close friends—people who you can trust, who you can be yourself with, who can help flush out the weird psychological toxins that tend to accumulate over time—which is a form of acute social malnutrition in which even if you devour an entire buffet of chitchat, you'll still feel pangs of hunger.

* * *

Leticia moved her body upwards, her eyes blinking as she took in her surroundings. She longed for the aged wooden walls of her blue box, with the homemade bed made of leftover wall-wood, the tin roof, the dog on top of her legs. The sounds of the colonia, people talking and laughing and moving in their day. The humid smell of _masa_ becoming tortillas. Her grandfather playing, whenever he could, playing his harmonica on to the night. " _Why_ am I in the med-bay?" It felt like ages since they've been in the room. She craned her neck around to look for the pig, cringing at the noise her neck made. "Are there more than one of these?"

The Doctor, even with her less-than-good eyesight, Leticia could tell that something was going on from the hard look on his face. "There are several ones on the TARDIS, each for every known species in the known universe." He must have read her face, since he said, "TARDIS, infinite space, comes with the package."

_Including for any leftover Gallifrey people._ "Of _course_ , why not be extra prepared?" She asked rhetorically. "You must have an unlimited supply of medical tech. I'm surprised it even _worked_ for me. How _long_ has it been?"

" _About_ 8 hours, for you." While Leticia spent the better part of 4 hours in a Stasis chamber, while The Doctor had to deal with the poor mutilated man's corpse, and then take him to the 58th Funeral Fleet, the one he picked in part because of the fact that they dealt with the lost that, through no choice of their own, had been taken off world. When he returned, he was satisfied that he was able to quickly heal up her wounds. The dermal regenerator does its' wonders! The fact that it was bleeding worried him for a second, but most shallow head injuries bleed more outwards. "The contusions you've gained are _all_ gone! Nor a bump or a bruise is left on your head."

Leticia frowned. "What happened to me then?"

"A byproduct of using an re-enforced cupboard as an rudimentary escape pod, you weren't the only one with scrapes on you."

'I guess in this universe, I shouldn't underestimate how much it would _**hurt**_.' "I thought that-" She closed her eyes for a second and gently shook her head. "Never mind, might have been something my head cooked up. Barely slept makes the mind all lulu." She couldn't help the lingering hallucination, if that what it really was, that it was much more than that.

The Doctor shrugged. "Can't do anything for that, although I have heard of Morpheus pods, in the 38th century. We could visit, one day."

_There it was_ , The Doctor knew that look rather well. That was the face he longed to see in his companions. _Of_ course, his last few, before that fateful day when he, he mentally stopped at the door in his mental TARDIS where he made sure he would never open, never to see what man he truly became. In any case, this was his ideal. Excitement, curiosity, And, above all, wonder.

"Why?" Curious, mixed with apprehension.

"With your life, why shouldn't you? You may have been to another country, lived there for years, and yet, just the twing of the culture touched you. Not truly letting itself take you over. _How_ was Mexico, for you, really?" Leticia opened her mouth to ask. "I managed to put it together, just call me Sherlock." He made the effort to smile, to soften the blow, just a tad.

Leticia lifted one corner of her lips and started to twist one of her fingers. 'Clever cogs'. "Not _bad_ , Doctor Twilight Sparkle. I was with my mom, and my grandpa for five years. It was enough to stay."

"'It was safe, limiting.'" The Doctor paraphrased. "You can still have that security, could arranged a few details to find you a nice place on Earth, until I can find the right universe that you came from. Well, might be a while for that to happen, I admit I'm not one that can count the cards well."

Leti raised a eyebrow at the statement. " _Unless_ you're Heimdall, or with some Transdimensional hoodoo in you, I don't see where you'd even have a clue on where to start. Or how are you even going to know which one is mine!" Even the so-called 'Lonely God' can't see all.

"It _would_ be harder, i'd admit, but you can have that comfort, being alone, making your choices, on your own, without them holding you down."

Leticia shook her head, and moved her body close to his. "That's not a comfort, I don't-" Tears rushed to her eyes. "I don't deserve it! Doctor, where do you think I came from?"

"A different universe." He said bluntly.

"Yeah, but look at-" She looked down at herself and gestured at her, oddly more cleaner, clothes. "This! His funeral was today, yesterday, 10 years from now! He's only 62." She felt a lot more chiller. "I had years and years of them, of seeing them almost everyday and I wasn't there, until just after he.." She covered her hand with her mouth. "Died. He _died_... I help take care of him, for years, with Ma." She looked at his eyes. Fear was a superpower. "I can't, I can do more, in my own way. That was my flub. I don't- don't-" She looked around for her bag, only to see it sat on a chair. She opened it, and took out her chewed cream lip, and moved it to her lips. She pulled away from it after a minute. "I want to see what's out there, explore. I do, but, one thing."

"What?"

There were words she wanted to say, to the Doctor, ever since she started to write about being in his world. But it wasn't fair, to him and to her. She knew her truth. No one would, not in the way she would liked to. And she shouldn't expect it too. "I wouldn't mind having a place, to at least call my own."

The Doctor stared back. "You still have that option, when you feel that it'll be too much for you, it'll still be there."

Leticia nodded. Maybe it was a good thing. From what she hated the most about the RTD era, other than the fact that their aliens are mostly animals, was how codependent The Doctor and Rose got later on, then the Doctor putting Rose on a pedestal. Two people against the entire universe. God, the tunnel vision! "That's _fine_ with me, I don't want to see that door closed."

The Doctor, quite deliberately, moved his hand to a tray connected to one of those machines one would see at a dentist office, and grabbed a clear bottle with pills. Leticia squinted her eyes, to see that the drugs in question are bright blue gel capsules. "Take them every four hours, that should do it."

He held out the bottle for her, Leticia took it reluctantly. "Until when?"

"When we can do a check up in five days."

Leticia gave him a pointed look. " _Not_ bad, Doctor Disco. I'd believe you actually are a medical doctor."

"Still not my name." He said, with a bit of annoyance creeping in.

"Don't know your real name, might as well." ' _Probably never will'._ " Wait, what are they _for_ , exactly?"

"There're for fully reliving your headaches." Leticia kept looking in the Doctor's general direction, not fully believing him. "And for clearing up certain bacteria you may have taken with you from your universe."

She looked back at the bottle, jostling the pills slightly. " _That'_ s... wait. Who tested them before?"

The Doctor opened his mouth for a second, then closed it. "You would be the _first_." He finally said.

Leticia scooted back to the end of the wall. "And, I get not getting headaches, I _love_ not to get headaches anymore, but, why- what's with the extra stuff?"

"Let's just say, When you end up in a relationship with someone, it's fresh, and _new_ , but their partner's been around a few ravines or some questionable people, and they get - things, and those things, if not probably treated, could be that the rest of your life is shorten by a considerable amount."

She couldn't help it, Leticia's mind flashed back to early 2000s Degrassi. "So, you're trying to make sure I don't have transdimensional Chlamydia?"

The Doctor nodded in her general direction. "If you want it put it that way, let's say you might end up with transdimensional Syphilis. The sooner I treat this, the better you won't have long lasting damage."

Leticia frowned at the bottle, in order to control herself in not shouting in disbelief that the Doctor, one of her Doctors, is talking about, the s-e-x stuff! After a moment, she extended her hand. "Well, as _long_ as I don't get snow-white diarrhea or a social disease, I'm good with it."

The Doctor opened his mouth to ask, but he was over 900 or more years old, somethings he didn't had to know.

* * *

Rose looked on at Mickey's sleeping face, as she overheard her mum and Gabe talking. _Their_ version of talking. Rose layed back down on the empty patch of her bed that she could get, since Mum thought it was improper to not let Mickey sleep in her bed.

A whole year. God, she could have been killed today. Or really harmed, like that girl. She hoped that she was alright, the Doctor must have be taking a while with her. She pushed the thought aside, glancing back at the comfort of her room. She smiled softly. If Gabe isn't called away last minute, off being a cabbie. He could have done so much more!

This was all so much to take in, all she wanted to do was to come back in 12 hours, was that so hard to ask? When The Doctor said it was a time machine, she expected a level of competence, when it came to traveling. And maybe just being the two of them for a while, but, as quick as he met her and decided within a day of seeing her, to take her onboard his ship, seeing her planet blow up as a first date, he gets some other girl too. Just like a bloke, never satisfied, always wanting more. She glanced down at Mickey's fluttering eyelids, smiling softly. Not _every_ bloke.

Walking back up to the flat, with Gabe playing catch-up, she knew most of what happened in that year by the time she arrived at their flat. And her shame started to grow again. Like Jimmy. She shouldn't feel sorry for the sly slim bloke, she lost a year, running off with him, fooling herself that she was going to become Mrs. Jimmy Stone, only to see that he was the worst of scum. And now he was dead.

She wanted him dead the moment she saw in the middle of 69ing with Noosh, she was this close to pulling hairs, on both of them. The very day she was picked up by a dashing man in leather, he was found dead, clutching valuables from his girlfriend. She felt sorry that that was how she found out the snake that was Jimmy Stone. At least he didn't leave her a parting present that would have unwrapped in nine months.

When she took a long look at her room, Rose came across a photo she had of the two of them, on that first day at that bedsit, before everything turned to crap. When she thought that being Mrs. Jimmy Stone was going to be the high point of her life.

She was in a better place, right now, she was with the Doctor. Traveling with the Doctor, making sure he was being better, she was not some cheeky bint.

"Hey there, Sleeping Beauty." Rose giggled at Mickey's sleepy smile.

"I think I'm still dreaming!"

"Cheese!" Rose leaned in to snog the living daylights out of him. She pulled away inches from his lips. "I'm glad you're alright, saving the whole world from World War Three."

Mickey moved slowly to stand straight. "What about you? Have you check yourself in the mirror lately?"

Rose playfully shook her head. "I'mma take a shower later, after the loo is de-skunked."

"Ahh, the ol' brother strikes again!"

With a bit of tongue stuck in her teeth, she moved upwards to lay down by his side, moving slightly on the side so that her head was on Mickey's lap. She wasn't too worried, the Doctor was gonna come back once he was done.

* * *

Leticia walked out of the med-bay, a quiet hum as her background music. She knew where she was heading, but as much as she didn't want to go, she needed to see this through. Part of her wanted to blame the pills for her lack of response about what happened to the pig, well hybrid, but she had just met him, saved him, only for him to be marked for dead anyway. The Doctor told her where his remains were. She was surprised that of all the species, he would interact with the space vultures, but then again she remembered 'Death of the Doctor,' and how that went.

The Doctor looked the same, didn't even had the _ganas_ to change his jumper. They didn't say a word as he moved to the doors, but he stopped. Leticia looked back at him. He pulled the door opened, but, instead of passing through the threshold, he moved sideways. So that she could go out first, Leticia realized.

"I-" Before she could continued, she was silenced by one look from the Time Lord. She moved one foot forwards, out of the TARDIS, and onto the Shansheeth's spaceship observation desk. She was taken aback at seeing the bright swirling night sky, and took a deep breath. Then she noticed that it was the ceiling, well, to be more accurate, the ceiling was a dome structure that probably had thick glass, in order to view the sky.

One of the Shansheeth approached her and the Doctor. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

"And the same to you." He said with a smile.

"I meant to Miss Lopez." Leticia looked in the Shansheeth's direction. "You may not know of me, yet, but, in time, you will."

"Amazingly cryptic, thanks for the foreshadowing." She said as a way of deflection, in truth, she was as scared as like she was of that homeless man with the bad teeth.

She moved away from the two, taking in the room, or rather, the observation deck. Her eyes widen. With all the stories, all the movies, and all the shows in the world, couldn't quite capture the wonder and beauty of that alien sky. The deep and lovely dark, with the spattering of the stars with vibrant violet and fushia swirling in the background. She smiled sadly at the sight.

Her grandpa would have loved to have seen it.

She looked away from the sky to see the Doctor staring at her. "What?"

"Don't blame yourself."

Leticia held out her hand, The Doctor took it. She wouldn't ask for more, not now. Her eyes felt dried. He's not suffering anymore. And, by God, she hoped that meant that he's somewhere much better.

"We are bearing witness to Naveed Radinus, a lost soul who was the only viable remains of his lininage. He had not borne any offspring, or had any significant others, at the present of his death, his familiar ties were deceased only a Earth day apart from each other. From our research, he was a man who provided for his family, despite his obvious disadvantage, and did not deserved to be cruelly expermentented on. Furthermore, from our alien intelligence, on Earth, we have determined that the deceased wanted to be cremated." Startled by the sudden sound of, what sounded like a earthquake, Leticia looked on as a small rocket launched into the air. "'Above the heavens, so that my body will become one with Star dust.'" The Shansheeth quoted.

She felt his grip tighten as they looked upwards. She curled into the Doctor's chest, her body vibrating. "He's my grandpa. He's a good man, that's how I'll remember him. Even when... when he changed.."

The Doctor wrapped his arms around her, placed his chin on her head as the scent of salt water reached him.

* * *

"Have you ever thought how so many people waste their lives on surviving?" Leticia asked. "Is it better to just not think of everything that happens, really good or really bad, and just focus on cooking stew or making hand-made tortillas?" Her dog only barks in response. "If only you can talk. Probably better that way. If you really could, you'd leave me in a second."

Leticia threw her crumpled napkin down the mountain-side, hitting a tree after several seconds of freefall. She looked down at the scenery, not daring to look anywhere else, or else, it would reactivate her embers of grief. It had been several days since the funeral, things were still fraight. Before, when her mother's girlfriend came to their blue box, that woman was the forefront of her mom's headspace, having to listen to the Woman for hours. Now, Leticia wanted to run home, into her mother's arms, and hug her. But she knew the rules. Not when _she_ was in the house.

She had to play the long game, ever since her mom's girlfriend made the comment about taking Leticia away to the U.S. Made sure she stayed on her good side, and before she knew it, she'll be back.

She smiled softly at her dog, who was lying down, face toward the sky, enjoying the breeze the mountainside afforded them.

"Ditzy-doo, we can't sleep here! Would be nice though."

A few more minutes, she would have to buy the tortillas eventually. How else would they eat chicken soup with added feet?

Unknown to the both of them, the crack, which Leticia made of point of sitting nearby everyday since the possible light emulating from the crack, started to leak out whispers of energy, crossing the small road, soaking into her skin. For her end, she felt a slight tickle, nothing more that could be brushed off as a stray blade of grass whipping in the wind, flying to the middle of the road. Who knew how much longer it could stack up inside her, waiting to be used on a fateful rainy day?

* * *

The Doctor set the TARDIS into flight, glancing back at Leticia who was sitting in the jumpseat. Drained, she glanced back on her white cracked phone, which somehow only went down to 25 percent. She would laugh at the idea that through the crack in space and time, and more than a day in this universe, and one of her phone is still not dead yet, if she was in a mood. With a sad smile on her face, she glanced down at the computer screen. "So, back to Rose?"

The Doctor was quiet, moving levers and pulling one thingy. She really should have focused more on the actual controls of the ship instead of the 'ships. As if he was deliberately ignoring her, he moved to the doors, in a casual stride, and opened them.

Leticia moved up from her jumpseat, towards the threshold, being bathed in Earthlight. She held her arm out, taking in how she was this close to touching the sky. What ever year they were in, she didn't care, not when she was on top of the world. "Where we were before, beyond the milky way. If I've had to fully pronounced it in their native language, it would be very alarming to the ears." Leticia felt the Doctor moved behind her, his breath on her neck. "They'll always be ghosts from the pasts, aliens from the far future. I can never promise you that it'll be safe, quiet, easy. But, it will be a trip of a lifetime!"

"I already said yes, you don't have to do more foreplay. As long as we're by Earth, for now, " She added as the Doctor opened his mouth, "I'm golden. Unless there's some sort of contract I have to sign in order to stay on the ship for more than a few stories."

"Stories?"

"In a way, everyone has their own stories! Come on, Doc!"

"That doesn't matter now, you wanted to stay near Earth, feasible, tell me then, backwards or forwards." Leticia glanced fully downwards on 'Classic Earth,' then noticed that her stomach was starting to rumble.

"Somewhere where there is some good food, would be a nice start."

The Doctor bared his teeth. "There we are how abou-" He stopped as he looked back on the screen. concentrating while at the same time, pulling some sort of traveling whatis on the control panel.

Leticia moved her head close to him, trying to see what he was looking on Google Earth, TARDIS edition. "What is it that we're looking for?"

"I'll know it when I see it, just got a whiff of it just now." To illustrate his point, The Doctor made a show of sniffing Leti. "But _that_ one was stronger."

Leticia looked back at the Earthlight, discreetly smelling herself. She went closer to the doorway. "But what is it? Some kind of space panda species or flying spaghetti?"

The Doctor was silent for a moment. "It's a puncture," He zoomed in closer on the screen, having up-to-date feeds from the nearby cams.

She felt her heart starting to race. "Meaning?"

"A slow leak in time, that's what that is, to be more flavorful." The Doctor said. "It's small at the moment, but if you let it grow, the universe will implode." Leticia's eyes widen as she took in that bit of info, but from the way the Doctor's grin was a bit to wide, for her liking, she had a feeling it was a slight exaggeration. The Doctor snapped his fingers, in triumph. "A-ha!" The map was zoomed out again to show the North America continent. "There we go!"

Leticia's grip was to the rails, just like last time, when the TARDIS traveled through time, but she was still processing to fully noticed how out of control the RTD doctors were when it came to driving.

"Let me guess, New York, the unofficial capital of the world?"

"Better, Toronto!" Leticia's face lit up, having the urge to squee in joy. "Bacon sandwiches, here we go!"

If she could, she would have pretended to barf. "Like hell we are!"

* * *

A/N: So I've been hit with a bit of writer's block, hurrah. In any case, I am starting collage soon, plus work, which is great, it really is, but I just really wanted to get this done, so The Doctor is coming back for Rose, but with the little niggle of the universe shifting with Leticia being in this universe already affected things like Rose getting a brother, an older brother at that, he's taking his sweet time in getting back to her, now that he has another young mind to show off too.

So, I am relaxing the whole other Leticia subplot, for now, just because since it is based off my life, and aside from a certain real life event, life preceding for my return to the U.S was mixed, to say the least. I have to admit, I love LOST and Arrow (when it isn't middling) but sometimes an episode doesn't need a flashback or a flash forwards.

I am happy to say that I will have Nine and Leticia been alone, for a few adventures, just enough so that Rose could relax and fully take in how leaving (again) has brought out some feelings among her loved ones, and Leticia could see that even with her future knowledge, that won't help as much as she thinks.

And as always, I am happy to receive feedback, either positive or constructive feedback, if this sound like it need some work, then by all means, tell me in a way that I can work on better. I know that this story has a lot of views, especially for something that takes me a while to pull out a chapter for, so that does mean a lot that out there, in cyberspace, someone wants to hear my voice. So just say the word.

 

 


	8. World behind Rose-tinted glass

 

 

 

 

 

 

Greetings, guys, gals, and non-binary pals! I hope you enjoyed Jodie Whittaker as much as _I_ did! God, I love her.

Her being the new doctor, it's not the end of the bloomin' world.

Bradley flipping Walsh as a granddad, oh that's fab! And Ben Bailey Smith! Those two better have some scenes together!

* * *

Every day's a learning day

...

...

A bit of adrenaline, a dash of outrage, and a hint of panic knitted my brain back together.

I know exactly who I am.

...

...

Have you got family?

No. Lost them a long time ago.

How do you cope with that?

I carry them with me.

What they would have thought and said and done. Make them a part of who I am.

So even though they're gone from the world, they're never gone from me.

...

From Doctor Who: The woman who fell to Earth 11x01

* * *

Leticia massaged her whole head, standing shakenly to her feet. She felt her head was banging to be let out. Her eyes focus to see the Doctor, laughing like nails on a chalkboard, still on the floor. "Do you always laugh?" That wasn't what she wanted to say, but she couldn't think of the question while she felt her concentrated pulsing on her bottom.

"Don't always." The Doctor planted his feet firmly on the grating. "When I feel at ease."

"When your magic box goes all wonky. Unless you're really used to being thrown like a ragdoll."

"Oi! She does that, it can't all be a walk in the park."

'Not when she had more than one person piloting her, or Peter Capaldi.' "Alrighty then!" It fell into a whisper of a pain. She clapped her hands together. "What were you saying about the bacon sandwiches?"

"They're famous for them, tasty for a lunch."

"Blarg! I rather eat some Poutine, thank you very much." She ran towards the doorway. " _How_ leaky is that hole?"

"Small. if we came to the right time," The Doctor open the door for her, giving her an pleasant expression. "And the right Toronto."

She smiled at the gust of wind, blowing snow in her face. Then turned to the Doctor, shivering. "Any wonder what day it should be? I'm guessing winter time, a tiny guess."

The Doctor pulled out his leather jacket and without hesitation, gave it to her. "Humans, you get cold easily."

"That's goes for everyone, dude. " She walked out the doors, looking up at the blanked sky, seeing the skyscrapers, something that looked similar to the space needle. " _No manches_! We're in Canada! " She covered her mouth, as the TARDIS landed them just out of an alley, towards a busy street. " _Sorey_!"

The Doctor appeared from the TARDIS only moments later. "We're in the year 2005, December 23th, to be exact. Close to Christmas, blimey."

"So, where is it?" Leticia looked around for any creepy cracks. "Wait, what do you mean the right Toronto?"

"There's several. That's what your lot do, repeating, names, faces, d'you how many times Bell-Bottoms come back in fashion?" He said rhetorically.

"507?" She grinned at her little inside joke.

"More than that." He grinned in turn, then sniffed the air. He stalked towards a large apartment building.

"Oh, you wonder of a time lord." Leticia tried her best to navigate her feet through the snow, while thinking of Iguala, one of the hottest towns she has ever stayed at, while she rubbed her arms, trailing behind the Doctor. Her face smushed against the Doctor's jacket, while he was trailing behind a rather big boned man, into the lobby.

"Do you think it's in here?" Leticia asked.

Not hearing her, The Doctor made his way to the doorman, smiling in the same way he was on the TARDIS beforehand. "Hello! We're here to see... apartment 507." Leticia moved closer by the Doctor's side. trying not to look to hard at the man, as he did look a bit like the Canadian version of Bradley Walsh. She should check if The Chase is still a game show in the UK.

The doorman gave a friendly smile. "Of course sir, let me just call up-"

"No need!" The Doctor turned to Leticia, gesturing to his pockets.

Knowing what he meant, Leticia pulled out the leather wallet, opening it, showing it to the doorman. "There you go, I think."

* * *

The Doctor and the Writer

Invitation: for Billie Piper's Christmas Party

Apartment 507

Please show up early to set up before the guests come

* * *

The doorman's lit up with opportunity."Ooh, Hey there, Doctor, Writer, Interesting stages names. I have seen my fair share of parties going on in this building, all sort of flashy. _Hey_ , if you like I have some left-over helium balloons from this office party through here in the back." He entered the threshold behind his desk, in search of balloons. The Doctor glanced at the paper, their eyes shooting up. He looked back at his companion, and showed it to her.

"Fancy writing, and everything," Leticia looked up at the Doctor. "How does that work?"

"Shows them what they wanted to see, usually, Are you a writer?" Leticia nodded. "No wonder it's sloppy."

Leticia looked away to wipe off her face of indignation just as the man came to hand the balloons over to Leticia.

"There you go Miss, hope your night goes very well!"

"The same to you, sir!" The Doctor, stalking off towards the elevators, following his nose. "Sorry we can't give a preview!" Leticia raced towards the open doors.

As they slid close, The Doctor looked back at Leticia, and pressed all the buttons on the elevator.

Frowning, Leticia looked at the lit buttons. "Are you really a five year old dressed in a jumper?"

"Nope, 900, thank you very much." The doors open and close several times, each time the Doctor leaning out, sniffing the air, and leaning back in. "I _love_ the smell of time in the morning."

Now, she was starting to get it. "So, how does it smell? Time? _Does_ it smell like a thrift store?"

"Not this particular smell, everyone has their own smell. "

"Okay, Then what's my smell? All the sniffing, I should have one. Thrift store B.O even. "

The Doctor took the next few seconds to sniff the floor and lean back in. "You smell of mountain dirt and Duvalins! You're smothered in it." The door opened for the eighth time, the Doctor leaning out yet again. "And there it is, come on!" The Doctor stepped off, with Leticia not to far from him.

Leticia took a whiff, and all she could smell was candle smoke and wax, not to dissimilar to the ones she would see the people in her colonia used for their vigils, walking down the street. Many with those candles, to light their way, for prayer, for someone's soul leaving the earth, she wasn't too sure.

* * *

Leticia looked up at her grandpa, with his tired eyes, and hunched over figure, jumping up and down at the dinner he bought for them tonight, a whole cooked chicken, some horachata, and some avacados! "Yummy! I thought that you were getting Burger King?"

Her grandpa could only laugh, "Hija, tengo tiempo disponible para coprando de lo mas mejor. " He took a seat, right across from the foldout table.

Leticia did the same, tying up her shoulder length hair into a loose ponytail.

Her grandpa folded his hands, bowed his head and closed his eyes. Leticia did the same.

* * *

Leticia held her tears. Her mother had a point when she told Leti of when her grandfather had to leave. She followed the Doctor, as he was listening at each noise, for the leak in time. If there indeed was a smell, then how would one of those sound like?

He stopped at one door. "This'll do." The Doctor pulled out his sonic Screwdriver to unlock a door that had no keyholes, and looked like it belong at a high end hotel.

Leticia took in the fancy room they entered in. "It's painted!" While the color was a bit lacking, beige, the rest of the room, the only other door she can see is open and obviously belongs to the bathroom, more than made up for it. Maybe it was a hotel after all?

"Too bad about the colour," The Doctor moved over to a corner of the room, where two sides of it is covered in glass, the snow falling all around them.

"The view makes up for it." _Five_ years. So long without snow, now there it was. She walked through snow without a jacket. "Are we at Christmas time?"

"About two days off, the _eve_ of Christmas eve. " The Doctor pointed out the small burst of lights, scattered across the buildings. " Don't touch anything."

"Says the man who just broke in." Leticia tied the balloons on a stray chair, as the ceiling look high enough that it would be a bother to jump and grab it back down again.

"To _save_ the universe."

"Is the universe going to mind if I use the toilet, or does it want me to go in a cubeta right by the kitchen?"

The Doctor waved his hand, clearly undisturbed by that legitimate option. "That's only basic needs, most urban civilians good to the toilets."

"You would think so," Leticia muttered under her breath. "Water! Water is also a basic need, I'm hoping?"

The Doctor nodded, and while Leticia went to get water for herself, she checked the fridge to see if there was anything she could snag, but frowned, finding nothing. She walked back to the window, leaving her cup on the table, her free hand hesitating to touch the glass.

"Looks almost like a livestream," Leticia said to break the ice, giving the Doctor a cup of water as he seemed to be setting up a telescope he must of had in his pockets. Off the Doctor's look, she gestured at the windows. "Certain people, living their lives, not knowing there's people watching them. It was another way to let me see the world, when I couldn't leave my box alone for too long. I could look and see people all dressed up, going somewhere that's away from the camera's view."

"The twenty first century has it's wonders. And drawbacks."

She said the first thing that came to mind. "Youtube?"

"Of course."

"Hah. _Yay,_ that'll be fun."

"You know, There's more to life than looking behind glass." The Doctor moved by the glass window. "The wonders of the universe, beyond this planet. All the stars that formed into supernovas, your first snow." The Doctor looked at Leticia's frown. "Not your first, but, in my experience, when you see a supernova enough times, it's just a consequence of a star's life ending. When someone else sees it, for the very first time, it's indescribable."

Leticia smiled sadly, looking at the window. "Five years, I was happy when I had my first Christmas without snow, thought it was a sigh." She glanced back at the Doctor for a second, and bottled in all the words she wanted to share. "Christmas came early. I mean, if we do end up finding it quickly, if we don't somehow find this tear that gonna ravage everything- How does it even look like?" She wanted to scream into a pillow for her mixed up words.

"Not sure," Leticia moved next to the Doctor. "Have you heard of the Panopticon?"

"I know the prefix, so we're trying to see all of the city with this?"

"In a way. What about 'Where's Wally'?"

Leti moved her hand in the negative. "You mean 'Waldo'?"

"Same thing. That's what _we're_ trying to do, find what doesn't make geographically sense, or a who. We gotta cover our bases. Otherwise, we could really be in trouble."

"How worse than the universe imploding?"

"It could go faster." The Doctor looked back at his little set up. "We'll be here for a while, so," The Doctor went to the kitchen, and came back out with a list in one hand, and the psychic paper on the other. "Give me your phone." Leticia pulled out her smaller phone from her pocket, and gave it to the Doctor. "Just give me a 'mo," He pulled the top off, took out the sonic from his jacket pocket, pulsed for a second, and then it was over. He gave it back, with an attentive look in his eyes. "The psychic paper should cover the food, I promise, and some new clothes. Call it an early Christmas present."

Leticia looked at it suspiciously. "Are you secretly Scrooge Mcduck?"

"A dash of Robin Hood in me. I'm not one to carry credit on me. The universe won't implode _right_ away."

Leticia looked down at the clothes she brought from her old universe. "Find, so the list..." She glanced down at it. "Okay, fine, errand lady, here I go," She went straight to the doorway. "Give me a text in about three hours, I'll probably still be in the clothing store. Oh!" She took out one sleeve from the jacket.

" _You_ 're going outside, you need it more than I do."

She ran up to the Doctor, and wrapped her arms around him, for three seconds, then she was out the door, straight on to the elevator, and out the building. She looked around, marveling at the sky. She glanced back, and started to move, relishing the rare opportunity.

* * *

She looked down from where she stood, only her shoes and extra wear she had left from her old world. She was known for a vivid imagination, from her mother, and her part of the family. She just got carried away, that was all.

_A sweater close to Rose Tyler-like, jeans I found that had a butterfly on the front, pale blue messenger bag, phone, bag._

_Bare foot on the carpet, other foot with a used sock, shifted bra strap, dry mouth._

_A woman talking about her underthings, a song from Nelly Furtado that happened to have thrift shop in the lyrics, a college student talking about how someone did a long fart in lecture hall._

_Thrift store smell, and Duvalins._

_I am living my life, for the first time in forever._

Yet, all she could see in the mirror is Rose Tyler. Leti's style for so long was, as long as it was wearable, not too many holes. Where could she even began but with her? Fancy clothes, for someone who had to look good for being in public. Something she could attain.

She looked down at the various cartoon shirts she grabbed, and the coats and the sweaters. The funny thing was, the last time she bought any piece of clothing for her, going out by herself, was right before she left for Mexico. Well, a better way to phrase it, tricked into going under a pretence of a vacation. What a long vacation that was.

_'You're in a better place now, that's what you have to see,'_

_'I have to not focus on me, what about them?'_

_'Mom will be fine,'_

Leticia started to chew on her fingernails to distract her mind from wandering again. She was away from there, that's all that matters. She had the Doctor to talk with now, a soundboard. She turned away from the mirror, and looked down at her clothing.

* * *

With the grocery in one hand, the clothes in another, Leticia trudged down the streets, backed up by a little trick from the paper, apparently, a little map back to the apartments. She glanced at the pretty decorations that she couldn't see well from the distance, probably for the Canadian snow. Her eyes were a bit dry, but does that really matter?

She passed by the coffee place, taking another whiff of coffee, and a hint of something burning.

* * *

"When I just a little girl, I asked my mother what will I be?" Leticia Lopez sang softly to herself, as she walked down the mountainside path. Her dog by her side. The woman started to complain about the droppings, and so Leti started taking Ditzy away with her.

"Will I be pretty, will I be rich, here's what she said to me," She stopped singing when she heard a stray combi roaring up the way. What if the man decided to pursue her then? She didn't fully believe about what her grandfather said about men, until a drunk man tried to flirt with her, in front of her family. Another bonus of having a dog with a mean bark on her.

"Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be, the future's not ours to see, que sera, sera," She fully stopped her body at the spot, she was sure it was the same spot, even if the area had been cleaned recently from the clutter. She was starting to believe, that maybe things were playing out as the big guy planned. Her grandpa was somewhere better, Leti kept her promise, until the end. Where else can she go but back?

"What will be, will be," It had been over a month. It was already two days before December 25th, and her mother would be leaving with her girlfriend the next day, to the next city over, for quality time together. She was used to it by now, but god, does it hurt.

For the next several weeks, Leticia would the one to maintain the household, waking up at the crack of dawn, letting the dog go to the bathroom, helping her grandpa go to the bathroom, helping the old lady go to the bathroom, cooking breakfast, getting the tortillas(enough of them so she wouldn't have to go out twice in one day, unless the lady-who-shall-not-be-named asked), cleaning up, trying to recycle water in the meanwhile to use for the toilet, making sure that they are air drying properly, making lunch for everyone, trying in vain to keep contact with the online world with the neighbor's wifi, studying her college textbooks she had since she was 9 years old to keep her mind sharp, write down her stories in a physical notebook in order to try and get her head together when it was time to write them, but then try to numb herself with movies and TV shows, and reviewers since they cut the time much better, to keep her mind off the fact that she couldn't leave her home long enough when three people, and her dog are dependent on her doing all of these tasks that they can't do.

Her mother needed a break, she knew that, but that was the reason he-

She looked down from where she stood, down the green slope, empty fields covered in trees. She pulled out a stone she picked up in the middle of the road, and tossed it down. She took out more tissue.

"When I was just a little girl, I asked my mother, what will I be..." She walked onwards, repeating the same verse, her eyes mapping out all the sky could show around her. Before she'll be confined to her blue box.

* * *

Leticia barged in the door, clearly The Doctor has no concept on how to lock a door, other than their own. "Fecking hell, Doctor!"

The Doctor's face was mildly perturbed. "What happened?"

Leti forced the Doctor to grab the bags, leaving her hands free to snap her fingers. "There was something in the air, something I knew, when you have a vigil, you use a hell of a lot of candle wax, and guess where I smell fresh wax in the middle of a snow-blowing winter?" Her snapping hand move towards the second window in front of the building she was talking about. "Please tell me I'm right, that's the smell? Have you check this one yet?"

With the Doctor's firm two shakes of his head, Leticia removed the jacket from the Doctor, revealing the pink jeans, the half-opened anorak magenta-purple jacket, and the Degrassi shirt, with the season 4 cast, that was a bit tight on the arms, then angled the telescope over to the window, secretly praying she was right, and tried to work her way up, starting from the first floor. "For desert, I brought some 'nanas!"

"Too bad you didn't brought milk, we could've had a go at some virgins daiquiris." The Doctor's voice was off in the distance.

"I'm good for some milkshakes, maybe if there's a milkshake shop around here, that could do," Her body was humming, her eyes were focused on the sixth floor. "Do you do a lot of shopping for food?"

"Frankly I could go without it for over a week."

" _En serios_? Clearly you have never been to Mexico in a second." Seventh floor, done.

"Oh, maybe someday, " His voice was muffled, either by the bananas or the jelly babies she managed to find from the one shop that managed to sell British goods.

"That's nice. I actually believe that sentence for once." She stopped moving the telescope. There was a white man with old clothes like the eighth doctor, cheekbones not to dissimilar to Cillian Murphy. Now that she thought about, he looked a bit like Cillian, he even had the bright blue eyes. The room itself looked to be a fancy room with some chairs and a piano. And a dining table. "Wax marks the spot." Leticia moved out of the way, pointing the Doctor to move closer. He did so, with a pensive look on his face.

The Doctor took note of the 19th century architecture, he'll have a bit of trouble checking it down. A high-cheek-boned pale male-looking person, wearing an embroidered topcoat over a waistcoat, with jodhpurs and riding boots. striding to the doorway, opening it to reveal a candle lit hallway. The Doctor looked back at Leticia. "How did you knew?"

"I smelled it, and the times that I did, I felt and saw flashbacks, like there were playing out before me. And the strongest I felt it, I think I saw my future."

* * *

A/N: So, the first part from the anthology book, The day she saved the Doctor, Rose and the Snow window. I will do my best to make this as different as needed for this adventure to be not like the small story. I hope whoever had the chance to read it before this chapter, please comment if that's the case.

So, with the opportunity presented might as well include the flash-sideways, as they are needed to the direction this is heading.

And as always comment, critic (in constrictive ways). I do my best taking advice from my peers.

 

 


	9. From Canada to Russia Without a Map

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The continuations of adapting from a short story and trying my best to add my spinning on it.
> 
> Also, Leticia has a lot of self confidence issues, which is fair, given she was isolated from greater society for several years. 
> 
> Plus, there's Saint Petersburg. 
> 
> And a guy who I've headcanoned as 2005 era Cillian Murphy.

Greeting guys, gals, and Non-Binary pals!

I buckled down on this chapter, and I completely over-shot Christmas, my bad, which was the main reason I changed a few details from the short story, but hey I can only blame myself (and finals) , so this is the second part of "Rose and the Snow Window" adaptation.

 

* * *

"I love my family, but they also drive me completely insane. I want more. More of the universe. More time with you. You're like the best person I've ever met."

"You're pretty awesome."

"You're all right, I suppose."

"I can't guarantee that you're going to be safe."

"We know."

"Do you? Really? Cos when I pull that lever, I'm never quite sure what's going to happen."

"That's okay."

"You're not going to come back as the same people that left here."

"But that's all right. I think that's good."

"Be sure. All of you, be sure."

"Sure."

"Sure."

"Deffo."

\- Doctor Who 11x04: Arachnids in the UK

* * *

Leticia tried to keep her mind clear, while they were heading up to the final floor. It wasn't that she was right that threw her, though that was a part of why things still felt surreal. It could be a possible future, that's what the Doctor said. Not everything is set in stone, she wasn't a fixed point or something to that effect.

She took the information in, while enjoying her possible last chances to enjoy some nice Canadian chocolate milk. His tone was reasonably well-paced, it wasn't like he talked down to her like he was her child. Doesn't mean she wasn't going to find something to write in when they got back to the TARDIS just to release some pend-up emotions.

Russia, cute boy with the haunting eyes, 19th century Russia, if she was going by what the Doctor said.

"Oreoyaya hill," He had said, while they had left some of her bags in the consol room.

"And it's on this planet?" She had to buy a notebook at some point.

"We have to assume that this is the case, always. Until it's not. "

"A walking set of contradictions, are you?"

"Flexible mindset, more like, have to be, the way we are."

There was no way to use the TARDIS without destroy a causal nexus here and there. Or possibly the whole of Belgium.

She wanted nothing more than to be on the TARDIS, laying down, trying to melt into the wall and be meaningless cells of material. But she wanted something different, not standing still.

* * *

The lift emptied with each passing floor, which was fine for the Doctor's taste. He looked over at Leticia, calm enough, with her chocolate. He droned out of blooming Slade song they played at every Christmas he's visited in the last 20 years.

_A puncture in time, twice over._

He couldn't assume anything at this point, there's been strange phenomenon in the universe since forever. Of course, Leticia is out of the universe... And, making sure she was clean of anything that could affect the known universe.

They jumped off at the 8th floor, Leticia looking around in rapid succession.

The Doctor softly counted out loud as he looked at the doors he knew faced the windows from their apartment. Leticia trailed behind him, until the soft pats of her boots stopped. He looked back at her, her eyes far away, glazed.

He waved a hand in front of her.

Her glance was still unfocused, lightly breathing in and out.

* * *

She looked on at the scattered lights surrounding the capital city.

"Oh what fun, isn't it?" She whispered, to her dog. She always tried not to speak to loud, from drilled in conversations about older men kidnapping 'pretty' girls, especially if they looked American. She held tight to her dog, while not letting her loose on the roof again, since the last time, she was up there for half an hour, and she had to tempt her back with a piece of chicken.

Through the blobs of people, from the view she was afforded, she saw her mother and her girlfriend slowly coming back into view. They had a bag on each side.

Guess they actually got dinner, instead of her girlfriend pressuring her mom into staying at the casino though midnight, again.

She walked two steps into the kitchen/grandpa's bedroom/tv area/writing table room. And started to take out the lentils she cooked off the stove and put it inside the mini fridge.

Ditzy, lounging in the bed right next to Grandpa, jumped off from the wooden structure, right to the wooden doors, where the creaking wooden steps signals to Leticia that they were coming up. She was barking loudly.

* * *

He took out his sonic to deliver a pulse to her filling, which seems to snap her out of it, which was all well and go, when she covered her entire face.

"Leti, it must have happened again."

Leticia looked back at the Doctor, suddenly looking back at the Doctor, and burying her face into his chest. "Whatever it is, it has to go away, it has to."

* * *

Leticia came to right, startled by seeing the Doctor up close to her. "I was-"

"Memory recall, anything from the future."

"My past, from 7 months ago, or a year ago." She decided not to tell him more, out of politeness. "Enough about me, we need to find this leak."

The Doctor walked away from her. Leticia felt chills crawling up her shoulders.

* * *

The Doctor knocked. "Hello?  _Zdravstuuyte_?  _Bonjour_?"

No one responded. With Leti right behind him, he soniced the door and threw it open to reveal a seemingly normal apartment that was lived in. A downgrade, in comparison to the other apartment, but tastefully decorated. Twinkly lights on string-like material, a fluffy throw blanket draping the beige couch. Leti moved aside and walked to the end of the room, with the large windows, the telescope glinting in the distance.

"Are you sure this is the right room?"

"I don't know," The Doctor said crossly. "Why don't you check it against your own calculations?"

Ahh, Snide Doctor, how ever did I forgot about you. "Then maybe it's like a mirror, since that man isn't here, and it's not like he could pack up the whole room."

The Doctor quickly scanned every inch of the small apartment with his sonic screwdriver, looking concerned. "Nope, whatever the puncture is, we can't access it from here."

Leticia looked around the room, careful not to leave any fingerprints as she looked through the desk draws. "Result!" She found a bright pink marker. "At least it's something Doc, and something that won't spook him too much." She moved back to the window, then stopped herself. "Do you write Russian?"

The Doctor helped her on that front.

Leti grabbed the marker back from him, drawing an arrow in the direction of the building. "Arrow signs are universal!" She said in way of explanation.

* * *

Back in their apartment, with paper and pens, thanks to the TARDIS, Both of them looked, squinted. They can still see the room.

"We can see it here, but not over there. It's a hole, they have two sides. Mind you, I have more or less given up on knowing any anything should work..."

"You're a time traveling alien, who looks human. Just because you're not an universe encyclopedia, doesn't meant it's on you to know everything."

"Nice way to put it."

"Life." She continued to watch the room across the street. "Everyone doesn't know all." It was still evening there; although, thankfully, the heavy red-velvet curtains were not yet drawn. As she watched, one of the wooden doors flew open, and the pale young man from earlier stormed back in. He sat down at the table and put his head in his hands. If he wasn't weeping, he was certainly deeply distressed. "There he is."

She grabbed one of the papers she took the time to write in bold black letters :

LOOK HERE!

She focused her attention on the man, and not out of the corner of her eye, where several people from the apartment building were looking at her. Thank god cameras are crap in 2005. She started to wave her hand rapidly, to sign the man into looking at her.

"Are you trying to get everyone else's attention?" The Doctor said calmly.

"Please, with this shirt, I've probably blinded someone by now." She started to jump up and down, with the snow blaring on, finally, the man looked up, his face paler than she thought it would be. His eyes, red rimed, stared straight ahead, into their world. She mouthed the words' hello' and with that, he caught her gaze.

"Oh boy,"  _And they called it puppy love..._

"It's leaking, it's gonna get worse before it's gonna get better."

Leticia placed her hand against the window, barely dared not to blink, desperate not to lose the man before they figured it across time and space, he squinted back at her, looking confused. She held out her hand to grab the paper, but the Doctor beat her to it, handed it over to her. With the words 'Hello' in English, russian, and French.

The incredible man, after a few moments, put his hand up to the window in response. She smiled tentanily. "Give me more paper!"

"What do you want it to say?"

"Would writing 'leak in time' be a bit much?"

"Everything about this situation is going to be hard on him. As far as he could tell, you're just an oddly dressed child across the street!"

She moved her head away the window in order to scowl at the Doctor. "I'm not a child!"

The Doctor glanced over. "Everyone is a child to me."

'Then what was that with Rose?' "I don't even want to know how you define that word. Write my name, sounds like a good start."

The young man across the way read the new sigh as she held it up, then turned round. Holding up a finger telling her to wait, he turned to the sideboard against the wall.

"Ink pot, oh do they use the quill in that time?"

"Of course, the biro were few and far between pre-revolutionary Russia."

Leticia gave him a look. "You should make that your part-time, Historian through the cosmos!"

The words the man was holding up started to swirl around, becoming recognizable to Leticia. "Count Nikolai Artem Livosich." She looked back at the Doctor, jerking her finger back. "Is he a famous person here?"

"No, no he's not."

"Still, being a count, that's almost like being a royal, I think."

The Count, with his smile raising his cheekbones, raised his glass of wine from the table and held it up to her in a toast. Leticia looked around from him in embarrassment, and her eyes went to the balloons, still tied to the chair. She took one, walking back to the window, and held it up for him. The Count's eyes lit up and looked completely astonished. Leticia had to squinted as he wrote, " _Montgolfier_ ," on another piece of paper.

"Is that a compliment?"

"It's what they called Hot air balloons," The Doctor explained. "It was all the rage back then. And brand new. It's like your holding up a hoverboard."

"You're joshing me,"

"You wish."

Leticia started to laugh at the ridiculousness of the whole thing. Heere she was, holding up a balloon to a, frankly fine, man, who seemed to be laughing alongside her. He wrote down some more, "Show me?", making a beckoning motion.

A body part of hers started to pulsate at the idea. She turned back to the Doctor. "Any idea on how to go from here?"

The Doctor rubbed his short hair. "I can't think of a better idea. He couldn't have been the one to tear a hole in time. They don't even have clocks that work properly."

"Harsh. So, what year are we going to?"

The Doctor took a closer look at the telescope, eyeing the newspaper at the table. "1812. The Corsican Crocodile is already on his way. Napoleon, Not a man I would like to see again."

Leticia was half listening to the Doctor, her eyes on the telescope. One of the doors behind the count open, with young men and woman flooding along the candle lit hallway, in the finest clothes she had ever seen. "Looks like a ball."

"Or a wake."

There was silence between the two for a long second. "You know which one I am all for."

* * *

Back on the TARDIS once more, Leticia trying to persuade the Doctor. "There has to be some spray on clothes, or hologram clothes! I don't wanna wear a corset!"

"It was the style back then. You've never tried on a corset before, haven't you?"

"Yeah, since the so called torture wear is never used except for sexy mistresses and cosplayers!"

"Alright then, I'll show you a little cheat sheet." The Doctor went to the monitor of the control panel, took out his sonic, and waved it at the screen, he gave it to her. "Say what type of clothes you want."

She raised her eyebrows but looked at the screen and said. "18th century dresses for a ball, size medium, no century appropriate corsets." She gave it back to him. The monitor started to change color, different Gallifreyan symbols, then stopped, with a highlighted path, like a maze, through the TARDIS...

"We're walking that much to find these clothes?"

"We have time, and if she's kind, she'll make it shorter for us."

* * *

The Doctor was outside the door the whole time she was trying it on. For goodness sakes, why couldn't have it been Rose? She had the most experience with boys that she had seen!

She angled her body just enough in order to see she had some back still uncovered. "Doctor! I need help."

The Doctor came through the door. "Did your hair got caught into the hooks?"

"If only, just need this part." She gestured to the thing. "Another reason while I will not wear dresses that cost more than half of my city. I don't deserve to wear this." And there it was.

The Doctor finished closing up the corset and started to work on the back of her dress. "When was the last time you enjoyed yourself?"

"When I wasn't reading fanfiction or watching British tv to stop the boredom of enforced solitude? In public, it was a while."

"Think of playing a part then, like on telly, pretend you're an actress who's going out to fight crime."

"Oh, such fun, fake it till I make it."

"It's worked for me in the past."

Leticia mentally looked back through series 1. "Fine, I can try." She smoothed out the long silk gloves she was wearing, her dress left her shoulder bare, with wide satin strips across her upper arms; the silk (which wasn't her first choice but as it was, at the least certain parts of herself were very comforted) clipped in at the waist over the faux beige corset and the skirt was a bright blue.

"It was a very ornate period," Said the Doctor, without looking up at her, when they came back to the front of the TARDIS. "If you were the richest of the rich, ostentation was the name of the game. Of course, if you weren't, you were lying frozen in a field without a headstone."

"Wow, how morbid of you."

"Facts are facts."

"And of course, they are the facts of life." Leticia moved closer to him. "I've dressed for the occasion, doesn't mean I will get into small talk about the bad ways of child-bearing?" There was a pause as she decided her next move. "Do I look presentable?"

The Doctor smiled at her. "In human terms, I would say breaktaking." Leticia tried to maintain a frown. "There's just one finishing touch." He reach up to touch her hair. "It should be enough."

"For what?"

"Woman at the time, if they were following the treads, had their hair up in a 'do. If I may.." Leticia firmly nodded, counting up to 167, by the time the Doctor finished with her hair, with a flair of his sonic.

"Did you just hairspray me with your sonic?" Leticia looked, or tryed to look at what she looked like through the TARDIS consul. 'No wonder Rose had a good hairstyle in the first series.' "It  _is_  like a wand."

"Oy! Take this." He handed her one end of a long red-ribbon,taking the ends of it, sonicked them together, then broke them apart again. The Doctor moved away from to type something on the control panel, which lead to a mirrored image of herself, with the ribbon on some sort of braid the Doctor had done.

"Nice head topper." She said in lude of commenting on her appearance.

" _It_ 's a sonic time loop. Tug the ribbon and you'll get back to this time, back to this apartment. Back to the safety of close to present day. Even if I can't see you. Even if I'm hundreds of years away from you. Where we're going - I'm not sure how badly this leak can get, and I don't want you to fall into places where you might never recover from. It is just a last resort, Leticia. I've agree to your terms, and that will include possible places to get lost in."

Leticia swallowed her salvia throughout his talk."Didn't know you care that much. "

"I will do my best to make sure that you are safe, as much as I can."

"Thank you, Doctor." Leti rested her head against his body for two seconds before pulling away. "I'll give you a real hug later, call that an incentive."

"With that being said, since the  _Count_  was  _so_  taken  _with_  you, now as someone who can blend in, it'll be even easier to go up to him, find out what he knows, what strange and unusual has been happening recently. While I will be scouting around, see about that puncture. I'll be inconspicuous."

"All this fancy dress for me, and yet you're still in the same clothes?"

"I'll be the stable boy, and for tonight, you'll be Cinderella."

"As long as these clothes won't turn to mush by midnight."

* * *

Leticia held onto the bar, while they landed once again. This time, as they went out the door, they were gone from Toronto, and now they were in Russia. Saint Petersburg was lit by oil lamps and candles at the windows, and shadows flicker on the snow. It was magical. She didn't even feel too put down that she left her bag behind on the TARDIS, she couldn't even use her phone anyway, it wasn't like this adventure was recorded somewhere.

She wondered, deep down, when would it all stop.

The TARDIS light itself was altered by the atmosphere, and started to flicker.

People pass by them, dressed in thick furs, riding on their sleighs, they were sleighs around them as a means of transport. She noticed the less fortunate walking about, like how she was back in Mexico. And in the cold as well. She wondered if she could ask the Doctor if they could do something.

They came to the main door of the moderately ornate palace, and quickly parted ways, the Doctor nipping off to the side while Leticia (after being reassured once again) held up the Psychic paper to the guard at the fancy doorway. She stepped through the door into a courtyard lit with great braziers. Glowing windows of violins. On the other side of the courtyard, great French doors had been flung wide open on to the freezing cold of the Russian night. The clicking of soldiers' boot heels resounded from the floor of the ballroom beyond, and the air was heavy with the scent of candle wax and cigars.

Leti climbed the staircase to the glittering doors, then turned and stood for a moment, looking back over the courtyard. She took one more deep breath, waited for another flashback. After a few seconds, she entered the hall.

As expected, only a few people looked at Leticia, given she was pale enough to not look out of place, and while her hair was dark, it wasn't out of place. By the time she heard the music, it had changed into a waltz. And look who it was at the corner of her eye, the count himself, Nikolai.

She couldn't really tell before, but he was a lot taller in person. Another thing she hadn't notice due to distance was the dark shading under his eyes.

The second he turned around to look in her direction, his eyes lid up, his mouth turning up with a smile that he immediately attempted to hide.

If she was optimistic, that was her kind of guy right there.

She waved away a man in a wig, trying to give her champagne, her not really noticing the man's face as she did so.

Carefully, and calmly, she walked slowly to the count. Trying not to wobble, counting her heart rate, in an attempt to calm down. He was beside her in a second, lending her his arm.

"You've changed into a gown." He said, oddly in an understated Irish accent, as he took her hand gratefully. "I did find your previous attire, quite bold."

"Oh, well, when one comes to a formal event, one has to dress up, don't they?" She was not going to sigh at the count, and that he was talking to her.

"In any style of dress, you look lovely, mademoiselle. Do you have a dance card?"

Her hair started to stand, Leticia looked around and saw an older man watching both of them like a hawk, clearing scowling behind his drink. "An enemy of yours?"

"My father, when he wants to be."

"I'm guessing he's the over-protective type?" The older man, who, in the right lighting, had Nikolai's nose and eye color, started to make their way towards them.

"Let us dance! Quickly," said the Count. Thrown by this, Leticia started to follow Nikolai's lead, occasionally glancing about for his father, and the Doctor. A caress from her hand led her gaze to Nikolai, who was looking at her with the fondness of smiles. It took her a bit of trial and error, but she hadn't stepped on his toes, so that was a plus in her favor. "You are exceptional!"

"You're just a very good teacher."

"I hadn't meant your dancing."

With that momentary look at his lips, she stumbled over another woman's dress, the long train portion, which was surprising for a ball. The woman turned, her surprise turning into shock, "Nikolai Artem, shouldn't you-",

"Come on!" He said, and waltzed Leti through the crowd right out of one of the ballroom's side doors.

In the corridor beyond, which ran the length of the ballroom, Leticia collapsed, exhausted and giggling, beside Nikolai on a low chaise longue. Male servants wearing wigs rushed past with glasses, large plates of food, and huge bowls of flowers. Leti looked on at the movement. She could still hear the music, in the background, which was a nice lull.

The count looked at her. "Tell me, where are you from?" he said. "I looked out in the village square, but that strange space of yours was suddenly there... and I thought I knew everyone in this city."

Leticia shook her head. "From Illinois, um, from the New States, over in America."

"How is it over there? I've heard they're were settling well."

"I'm not too involved, sorry to say. Have been doing my fair share of traveling over the years. Anyway," Leticia stood up, holding onto the reason why she was there. "What had things been like in _Saint_  Petersburg? Have you noticed anything new around the city?  _Out_  of the ordinary?"

"Apart from yourself? Oh, that place you live, is it a greenhouse of some sort?"

"You  _can_  say that."

"That seemed strange to me."

"Well, anything else?"

"You have a very exotic birthmark," said Nikolai, immediately putting both his hands to cover his mouth, flushing slightly, as though he said too much.

Leti frowned at first, given that the straps were hiding one of her birthmarks on her shoulder, then, on a whim, looked down at her chest, where her light brown heart shaped birthmark from her  _revealing_  dress (The TARDIS is a bad girl after all) was being exposed. "Oh, thank you, I think you're the first one to notice in forever, actually. That wasn't what I meant, but, thank you."

They both looked at each other, Leticia smiling wider, feeling her cheeks warm up and her heartbeat quickening. Was she reading the situation right?

Then the count sighed, a look of regret filling his face. "Oh I wish... I wish I had... Oh if only..."

"What?" Leticia said, furrowing her eyebrows. "What is it?"

At that moment, the side door burst open, revealing the count's father. "Nikolai Artem! The lady is arriving. It is time!"

Nikolai's pale face blushed bright red, and Leti recalled seeing him in the room, the deparing expression he'd had on his face.

"Oh."

"Oh!" said his father, moving forward, ignoring Leti completely. "I do not need to say again how important this is to our family, set aside your feelings about the matter once and for all! It is on the edge, Nickolai. Either you commit to having this marriage or else-"

A blast of trumpets made Leti jump suddenly.

"And look at that, she is here!" He looked back at the door, "For goodness sake, the priest is arriving, the whole of Saint Petersburg is here! Son, it is time!"

* * *

The Doctor was spying through the salon window that he was sure that Leti and himself had spied through the telescope. He jerked his head as a woman, with men dressed in huge fur hats following closely behind like bodyguards, glided up the gravel path past where he stood. The palace butlers and footmen rushed out to greet her.

She was stunning, in human terms. She wore a flouncing white dress and clutched a bouquet of lilies that were wilting in the frosted air. Her skin was as pale as soy milk, almost-wax-like in the moonlight.

The Doctor lifted his nose and sniffed. Then he immediately turned and charged back around to the main door of the palace to get his friend.

* * *

Among the throng of the ballroom, The Doctor couldn't see Leti. He kept tripping over the ladies' huge dresses and bumping into people, who were taking their places for what looked like a wedding. "Leti," The Doctor shouted, but his voice was swallowed above the orchestra playing sweeping, romantic tunes as the guests found their seats. "Leticia, where are you?"

A large strong heavy hand grab the back of his collar. "Oi!"

* * *

Nikolai's father sternly marched off, and Leticia glanced up at Nikolai, whose face said everything.

"You're getting married? Right now? I've heard the term terrible timing before..."

Nikolai went even paler than he already was. "I was going to tell you. She  _is_... she is rich. My family are on the edge of ruin, but my bloodline is good... good enough for her choosing me to marry."

"But," She looked away, in an effort to control her emotions. "Can't you just say no?"

"If I say no, then I must join the army. It is the only way open to me. Bonaparte's men are already nearing the gates of Moscow. They say the people are blocking their windows with the body of the dead just to keep warm."

Leti grimaced. "That's horrible! Who is she, the woman you're being married off too?"

"She is new to Saint Petersburg, just like you are. She has money," A thought appear to have occur to him. 'You don't have any money,  _do_  you?'

She took his meaning. "Not a dime. I don't even have a job. Nice way to be proposed for the first time, by the way."

Nikolai tried not to blush. "At least we- No matter." He turned to go. "I have given my word as a gentleman, after all. It is not just me who needs saving - I have five sisters and... so on."

As he stood and attempted to put on a brave face, a strange man wearing a large fur hat that almost obscured his waxen face entered the room.

"And he is one of her footmen, to bear me to my fate." Nikolai tried to put on a laughing demeanor.

The man ignore the younger man and headed towards Leticia. "Anomaly," he said in a low voice that almost a growl.

Leti blinked and jumped up. "Leticia, not that hard to say."

The count looked confused.

"So, if you're calling me that, you're not from here, are you?"

"Anomaly detected." The man continued, and drew a large weapon shaped like a mace that blinked with a small red light. It didn't belong in the 19th century anymore than Leti herself did.

"Oh boy," said Leti. "Oh, wait, Doctor!" She shouted with more conviction that she thought she had.

"You are in need of a physician?" said the count, his brow crinking, before the man harshly shove him out of the way to get to Leti.

* * *

"Get your hands off me!" The Doctor noticed straight away that the two men following the lady were either identical twins - or they were wearing the exact same version of a face. This one had good strength. He manhandled the Doctor through the crowd and eventually deposited him in the salon he and Leticia had first seen through the telescope. From far away, down the end of the corridor, The Doctor could hear Leti shouting for him.

"Sorry" The Doctor said in a tone that he wasn't sorry, twisting nearly out of his jacket and bouncing aside, "I really have to go."

"Anomaly detected." said the man.

The Doctor grinned. "Oh, and how did you!"

He was almost at the door when he found himself face-to-face with a large mace.

* * *

The man rushed at Leti, giving off a clammy, damp smell, like something wet around the edges. She wrinkled her nose at the unknown smell. He put out a moist hand. "You are an anomaly."

Leti pushed him in the shin with her foot. She recoiled, biting her lip in the pain she was feeling. "Pequeño robot de metal!" He grabbed her.

"Unhand her." Nikolai had drawn his sword.

The man had gazed at the count with contempt, not letting his grip on her go. Nikolai slashed at his arm. Without a flinch, the man grabbed the count's sword with his free hand, and without a beat, thrown it across the large hallway.

Leti looked over to see, swishing her dress, knocking a candelabra over, on top of some paper, catching fire. The man holding her backed away a little. Interesting...

Leticia, thinking on her still in pain foot, grabbed the candelabra and pushed it towards him. "How's it like on the other side, huh?"

The man, sweating instantly, lunged towards her, just as Nikolai launched towards them with his recovered sword. The three of them overbalanced, and the man caught hold of the long red ribbon tucked into Rose's dress. He pulled hard and, as he did so, the room seemed to shimmy around them. The candles wavered and vanished, the walls contracted and squeezed, and Leti found herself standing next to a window, alongside Nikolai. The man in the fur hat was gone; all that remained was the long length of red ribbon, torn at the end.

To her horror, Leti saw the telescope and realized where they were, back in 2005, in the bright snowy daylight of Toronto.

* * *

A/n:This took me over a little under 6 hours to write out, but a pain while editing. I would like to say I want to finish the rest of the adaption by the end of January, but who knows at this point.

Full time at college, plus some extra time at work. Plus very positive things in my real life. But I have been writing for some many years at this point, and I do not care to stop.

Sources: (thank you college)

Duderhof Heights on wikipedia, to give more of an context for the Russia part, as this story was inspired by a short story, information on the wiki is limited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would love a response, even if it is a comment that says 'kudos ' I would love it since I know that people out there love this story!


	10. Over the Window and through the Doors

Hello, guys, gals and Non-binary pals! I hope everyone was okay from the whole polar vortex where there were days below 0.

This may be odd to hear, but I do this thing every year, where I try to challenge myself in writing stories in different media, in different types of loves. Through the first two weeks of February, I try to write at least seven things by Valentine's day. I usually give it a different name through the years, but the point in what I'm trying to make is a challenge to myself. Enabling to write beyond my comfort zone.

I had parts of it shaved off from the past chapter, and it took a while to get it to a good point to stop. For a short story, it really has a lot of detail.

* * *

Sometimes the only choices you have are bad ones. But you still have to choose.

\- 8x08 Doctor who: Mummy on the Orient express

* * *

I _am fine, I will be fine, I will be so fine. This is fine_. Leticia moved towards the window, just to really confirm she was back in Toronto, without the Doctor.

_Son of a fecking bastard!_ There was a twisted mangled shape on the floor, which was not there the last time they were here. She wanted to say to herself that it was not what she thought it was.

Nikolai was right next to her, glancing all over before Leticia decided to close the blinds. She looked at the Russian, slightly taken aback from how, with lightbulbs lighting them instead of candlelight, how blonde he looked. Plopping down on the couch, Nikolai joining her, she closed her tired eyes.  _Blonde Russian Cillian Murphy._

"What happened to him?" Nikolai said after a long moment.

"We've moved - moved to another place, and I guess, in the process, with three people going through the process, that caused it to miscalculate the landing a bit. He was trying to kill us, and now he's – not." She pressed her hand to her mouth. She took a deep breath, counting to five.

_Facing the facts._

_It was my fault, it was my fault._

_I'm in the future._

_Facing this on my own._

She tried to wrap the ribbon around her hair, fumbling through her French braid in the process. "It has to work!" She muttered while trying to backtrack to any reflective surface. She even tried to tie it around her hand, something from when she was looking into alternative marriage practices for one of her characters from far ago when she thought to have a guy who likes her was out of the realm of possibilities.

With trembling hands, she managed to succeed in her goal, only to see no change in the air.

_I'm a failure! I can't , I-_ Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced back at Nikolai, who was looking at the control remote of a television set - that completely slipped her mind during the time she was here before with the Doctor- like he was looking at a new present he got for Christmas. Nikolai started to look at the rest of the room, his eyes widening.

"Oh bother," She let go of the ribbon, steeling herself. " Nikolai there's also another thing-"

"Where exactly have we moved to?" He looked to her, so lost, eager to understand.

"Nikolai, if I say it to you- it's a lot to take it, we've moved in time-"

"I know one moment we were just fighting that madman, and the next moment we are nowhere near anything I know of before. In what way,  _in_  time?"

"Okay,  _um_ , there's a today, tomorrow, and a yesterday. That's what I grew up on, and then I learn. Learning is good for the head. With moving in time, what you know of, one's tomorrow could become two days after today, or three years after today. We are far away from your version of today, I don't even know how to count that in days. Years are iffy, don't like math all that much."

"So, in that case, this is the Saint Petersburg of tomorrow?" Nikolai sniffed loudly.

"We did more than move in time, we moved In space, we're not even in Russia right now. Not even on the continent. We're in Very North in the Americas."

He sniffed again. "Do you smell that?"

"Not sure," Leticia started to sniff the air. "Could be coffee or gas? It's been a while since I've smelt Northern gas. I think-"

Nikolai sniffed again, then he turned around. "Oh! I think it's me!"

Leticia couldn't help but smile at the sight.

* * *

She was a little worried that, having found the bathroom stocked, with extra fluffy towels, that she would have to 'help' Nikolai but true to his word of being a gentleman, he assured her that he could handle it.

That was fine by her, after the last time she had to help with a sponge bath…

She started to look for her bag from home, only to belatedly recall that she left it on the TARDIS. Oh well, at least she had the lack of foresight to not grab the bags she had bought with her hard-earned item of the psychic paper.

With Nikolai busy, Leticia lied down on the couch, half-listening to an old sitcom where Kelly Ripa had a sister who was a former soap opera.

She still had the paper, maybe she could use it at an ATM somewhere, get money, or use it as an I.D.

It won't be that long, just maybe a half an hour, five hours, two years. He might end up in Aberdeen trying to find her…

She turned around and started to massage her wrist.

He would come back for her.

If she was his soulmate or his romantic interest. Then again, he did turn a companion to stardust even when she displayed a romantic intention.

Which, even if she ended up really early in their time together, he clearly already has one at this point. Rose was the reason he started to gravitate to his normal self. Rose was the reason he regenerated into a younger person, lookswise. Rose was the reason Ten refuse to regenerate, which caused an incarnation to be a copy-paste Ten with a Donna glitch.

Wait, he went back for Amy, and he- Well, he had kissed her back that one time. And that time his subconscious mentioned him having dreams of her. And then she became his mother-in-law.

Nope.

Nope nopey, nope. He went back for people that weren't his loves. Amy, Bill, Brigadier, maybe the Mast- well, nope on that.

It would have to be on her to find a way back to him.

Somehow.

She tucked out the psychic paper from her cleavage storage and opened it.

Rose Tyler used it infrequently and it worked okay, River Song and the face of Boe managed to use it while being in range from the Doctor.  _Can it be that the Face of Boe is Jack? Ugh, overthinker!_

Pressing her forehead against the paper, she thought:

You're the Doctor, I know your faces well.

I know you're gonna make it out alive, I know it.

Come find me, if I'm still alive.

The young girl from another universe pulled away from the paper and waited. For goodness sakes.

* * *

_But you're you. There's always a loophole. You wait until the last minute and then you spring it on me._

_Every night is the last night for something. Every Christmas is the last Christmas._

* * *

"Oh my…" Jarring Leti out of her thoughts, "Oh my word this is the best invention I have ever seen!" Nikolai shouted from down the hall.

Leti moved up from the couch, wrapping her arms around herself. "Don't you take all the hot water." She said after a moment.

"I feel like I will never leave this place!" The joy in his voice was unmistakable.

"Not the only one, who feels that," She said softly.

* * *

The ribbon tied to The Doctor's hand twanged and started to glow before the color faded to a muted red.

What choice did he have?

He made a promise, and ever since he was in his new body, he had taken to keeping a promise with aplomb. Even those he had to himself.

He was going to get back to Rose Tyler, even if it turns out to be in a different body. He was. He just needed to get Leticia adjusted to her life, if she wasn't going to live in England or even in the Americans.

And, if only he admitted to himself, see part of Rose's Timeline again. He wouldn't meddle unless it was important, having a brother when she clearly hadn't before, counts. He knew that she never had a brother, before. But during those hours he had while Leticia was recuperating, he saw the paperwork, the pictures, as far back as he could go.

Something must have happened, the crack in the world, the hole, anything.

He'll go back, he needed some time. Information gathering.

He stared up at the big man with the curved mace. " Now, I bet you don't really mean to blow a hole in space and time, so why don't we sit down and talk things through?"

"I must kill the anomaly."

The Doctor bared his teeth. "I like the name, the Anomaly, if only you could spell it! Can you?"

The man raised his mace above his head and prepared to strike.

* * *

Without any other clothes suitable to change into, Nikolai came out into the living room, with the same clothes, blinking, his eyes still adjusting to early 21th-century lighting. He kept turning the lights on and off for the past few minutes, and while it was enjoyable to see the sight of it, Leti was starting to think that perhaps she would have to fill him in on some details. "Good thing I can't show you the internet, that'll break your mind." She finished her thought out loud.

Nikolai looked around the apartment, a curious look on his face. "While I have enjoyed your bedchambers, Miss Leticia, I would like to see the rest of your palace, see if it's as wonderful as the host."

Leti tucked part of her hair off to the side. Even with all the excitement, he remembered her name. "Well, thank you, Mister Nikolai, let's not worry about that for the moment," Leticia looked at the still fresh bananas, and handed one over to the clothed man. "Have some nourishment, they are still good to have."

She poured him a glass of water while he relished in eating the modified fruit. "If you like, if you are willing to wear some possible fitting clothes, we could go out to the marketplace, if you like to. I don't think there is a big issue, going without a chaperone unless you subscribe to that particular world view, then there would be an issue there, which you should say at this point otherwise you would have to hear me talk on endlessly."

"That's an option worth entertaining." Nikolai grasped his glass from the bottom. "I think I will stick to my clothing for a while, it takes time to decide what sort of clothing I can wear."

Leticia let out a small sigh, "Until recently, I've had the opposite problem." She patted her throat in solidarity. "In that case, we should try to make a dinner. Since I only gotten this food to feed me and my friend. And he's not here."

_He was the Doctor, he could get out of this jam, with a kettle and a piece of string._

"You miss your friend," Nikolai said bluntly.

"It'll be okay, he can help with the time hole thing on his own, I wouldn't know where to start. At best, I can be his sounding board."

Nikolai parted some of her hair from her face. "I enjoy your company, and being in this new world." He moved forward. "Thank you, for saving me."

_What happened to being a gentleman?_ Leticia opened her mouth to rebuke him. But he stopped her with his hand on her lips. " _You_  had, and I thank you."

Leticia indulged herself, pressing her lips against his open palm then pulled away. "Don't thank me yet, I need to let you know, I'm a stranger to this world as you are, I can't be your guide forever."

"For the moments that we do have, then,  _Leticia_. We can explore the rest of this new world as equals! " He raised his glass in salute.

She would like to believe she was capable of that. The young woman raised her glass as well.

"To our meeting," Nikolai said.

Leticia repeated the same. After finishing her drink, a question popped into her mind. "So, um, is that a Russian thing, I've never heard that sort of phrasing before."

Nikolai chuckled heartily. "I only speak Russian, like you are right now."

Leticia straighten her back. "I'm not…" She set her glass down and walked towards the blinds. "And if we can still communicate with each other  _despite_  that…"

* * *

The Doctor closed his eyes and focused. When he opened his eyes again, everything was slowed down, to a millisecond. He looked at the small table, where a large pewter jug of sealing wax and parchment was. If he had a sliver of more time, he would go to the deep part of his mind, to a representation of his TARDIS, to work it through.

Without further delay, he took out his sonic screwdriver and increased the magmatism. In seconds, the mace curved over the man's shoulders like a fat scimitar and landed in the jug.

The Doctor ran over to the window. "Leticia, can you see me?" He waved his hands around. Just like before, he closed his eyes, concentration on the flux, on finding Leticia in the one place he knew he could see her. Able to use his 'tell'.

"The temporal flux. The void particles."

It was a small tear, but even with that foresight, he knew it was growing bigger, it could even result in worst things happening, 'Like time zone colliding, the visions she was seeing, the immutable past for her, and the probable future.'

He could see the window, clear enough that, to the unknown and wandering eyes, it looked like it had appeared out of nowhere, along with the reflection of the apartment building in front of that window.

"Leticia!" He shouted once more, even with his time catching up to him, and the man pulling his mace from off the jug. "Leticia-"

* * *

Leticia saw the snow falling in front of her, her mouth open. Lighten by the candlelight, with the Doctor facing her, clearly calling her name, a huge man coming up behind the Doctor with a huge mace.

"Oh dear god!" She looked away from the window. WIth no time to lose, she ran to Nikolai. "We have to go back! I saw my friend, and I can talk to you, if that's the case, I think I know of a way we can get back, TARDIS be darned."

"What?" He wiped away his blonde hair away from his eyes. "Why do we?"

"The reason me and my friend came here, we were trying to fix that little window through time," Leticia gestured at the visual of the Doctor, not willing to jinx anything by looking back. "It should not be there, it could unstable so many things to everything, if I got that right from the Doc."

"Can't I stay here? Surely you don't need me to go with you."

While she was tempted to let him stay, there were two things stopping her, the timeline, and the hole. For the first time, she was the most experienced person in the room. "Maybe it's better this way, despite what you may think, I don't want to be alone, without  _you_." She held out her hand. "It's your choice, in the end."

He gripped her hand.

The sound of four terrified horses lead them to the window, where they saw a man on a sleight looking confused, with a woman dressed in fur screaming her head off.

* * *

In under 5 minutes, after grabbing a one of the used jackets, a cozy brown faux leather jacket, she bought, they were out of the building. Whatever happened, she hoped it could be reversible. She tugged on Nikolai's hand into the next building, she looked on the, thankfully same guy at the desk. "Sorry to come through, looks like there's a lot of commotion outside, look for yourself."

Not to her surprise, the man left his desk to go look out the door, where several people are screaming their heads off.

She dragged Nikolai over to the elevator and pressed the number 8. It was a long shot, the longest of shots, but she could handle it.

When she arrived, she walked down the hallway until she was sure she got the right door, kicking the door open.

To her shock, instead of what she was looking for, the way back, she found a very irritated woman looking back at her. Through the large amount of profanity, she could gleam that she wasn't too happy about the marker on her window and suspects that it was Leticia since it was a 'girlish' writing. She swiftly closed the door.

"Okay, that was a fail." She took a deep breath. Taking a wiff of candle wax.

* * *

"I think it means she likes woman." Leticia looked from her notebook to look at her Abuelo, "Jane Austin is a woman."

"Clara tenía una novia," Her grandfather said, as he finished drying off his feet. She tried not to look at the yellowing nail he had to remove from the towel. "¡Y a todos modos, eso no esta correcto!"

"Correcto?" Leticia went up to the stove to finish their lunch, lentils with left over rice. She brushed off some crumbs off her large striped shirt, that no longer fit, from the old piece of bread she had for breakfast, with her cafe con leche. "Ese un muy común ahora como –" She walked over to her grandpa to make her point. " Mira, por ejemplo si yo fuere con una novia esto esta bien si estamos en amor entre ellos!"

"Oh, espérate hija en los ojos de dios, ¡homosexuales son un producto del diablo!"

She rarely wanted to talk about the bible, god knows she's been trying to avoid her great aunt when she invites her family to church with them. "¡Por una cosa, dos mujeres! Por este ejemplo esto- Otra cosa, si Dio creado todos y se perdona nuestros pecados o algo así no es una problema!"

Her grandfather sighed. "Hija, si Clara ba a segen en un relación con una mujer yo pensó ella no bas se mi favorita compañera."

Leticia turned off the propane lit stove and started to set up the table for lunch. Part two of the season premiere was on, and she was not going to miss the chance to see the episode live.

* * *

Leticia's gaze slowly came into focus, seeing Nikolai's startled face. "What happened to you?"

"A side effect, of the leak in time and space." She looked back at the door, then back at Nikolai. The Doctor, earlier, thought that by coming through this door, would have let them enter the time window. Maybe, that idea could still work. "Nikolai, we may not know each other much, but we are able to talk to each other, understand each other. Trust me, please open this door."

"The woman on the other side-"

"It won't matter if she's there. If I'm right, we can go back."

Nikolai moved towards the door, grabbing Leti's hand. He looked back around the hallway, then back to Leticia. He would treasured those moments he had with her, for he knew what awaited them, when they returned.

* * *

The Doctor, looking exhausted, had shimmed up one of the heavy velvet curtains, while below him a large man feinted and swiped at him with the point of a huge mace.

"Crap! Help him!" Rose said to Nikolai.

"Which one?" Nikolai said in response.

"The one with the big ears!"

"Oi!" The Doctor said, good-naturally, grinning like a mad-man.

Wielding his sword, Nikolai leaped to the back of the man with the mace, even as Leti had gone for his ankles to try and knock him off balance. The man reared up with a roar that sounded not human, dropped his mace and Nikolai tore half the shirt off his back, exposing blue, nobbled reptilian flesh under a white carapace which looked like wax.

"Ooh Boy," Said Leti, grabbing the rest of it.

The Doctor jumped lightly to the floor. "Causubus!" he cried out, as Leti kicked at the creature's knees before it could swing it's mace around, bringing it crashing down to the floor. Nikolai held the point of his sword at the creature's neck, and the Doctor came over to them. The fake skin the alien was wearing, was starting to peel off.

"Causubus origina. Oh, how you little souls cling on."

"What foul thing is this?" Nikolai shouted.

"Something that you should definitely keep pointing at with your sword." The Doctor said to Nikolai while grabbing the creature's mace from the ground, and held it close to the sword.

Leticia felt a chill running up her spine. "Doctor, what type of alien is this?"

"Well, It's a parasite. It steals little time energy bits from all over the universe, as fuel for itself. Binds itself to a host. As for what's it doing here, I have no clue."

Leti looked at the creature then at Nikolai. "Like a marriage?"

The Doctor turned to her. "How so?"

"People make a vow, pledge to each other, intertwined-ness."

"It can. Why?"

The creature's groans lead Leti's gaze back to it.

"Shall I kill it?" Nikolai said, trembling slightly. Leti could tell of a tremor in his voice.

"Are you built for killing, do you think?" The Doctor asked.

Nikolai's face started to turn pink. "No, I do not think I have the stomach for it."

"Good," The Doctor nodded. "Quite right too."

"But of little consequence," said a lithe voice behind the three.

Standing under the threshold was a dark-haired woman in a white dress, with a long train, clutching a small bouquet of wilted lilies.

"Ahh, it's you," The Doctor turned back to the alien on the floor. "Of course, this must be one of your lackies."

Leticia looked around the woman's skin, how even if she supposedly looks flawless, one can see the waxy look.

"My love," The woman turned to Nikolai, a serene smile on her face. "Ignore my pet. It is time for us to be wed, in union."

"That's what you might think." Leticia said.

"Your family," The woman cooed to Nikolai. "Has lived here for over hundreds of years. Land, titles, and fealties passed down. You are rooted in time. A delicious fertile well… Do not fret. You shall have money, your family, safe and cared for. There will be offspring to worry of. No harm."

Nikolai blinked at the information.

"Except for the fact you tried to marry him, without you telling him about your genetics and your home planet? Or the detail of you being all blue and scales? " Leticia said.

The woman moved away, her eyes trained on the young count, her face outlined by the firelight. "No, I am not." She answered her question. "Come now, Nikolai. Everyone you know is out there, waiting for your entrance. But, if you prefer, you and your family may starve, or you may die on the fields of the dark Russian winter."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "You, Causubus. Parasite. I know what you are. And I can stop you."

The woman scoffed. "But this Is a wedding! You cannot stop a binding, when both of the parties are willing! And we shall be bound!" She opened a purse she carried on her belt. Inside, it glistened with gold and jewels.

Nikolai's eyes widen.

"All yours," She cooed. "The instant we are bound."

"Humans and money," The Doctor muttered.

The woman kept her eyes sharp for any weakness in Nikolai's eyes. "Come, my love. It will not be long." She walked back where she came from, more like gliding back to the ballroom.

The Doctor, Leti and Nikolai glanced at one another, then charged after her.

* * *

A/N:

The Jackal is a small reference to General Hospital, and my absolute favorite character from her, Damien Spinelli There might be more references in the future since I've gotten on one of my own nostalgia trip.

There's a reference to the Husbands of River song.


	11. To Have and to Hold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, guys, gals and non-binary pals! This year went by quick, and not quick enough.
> 
> Thought I would put it out there. I am happy to say we are nearing the end of my mini adventure, as I plan out the next few episodes that follow the Doctor Who episodes. The next adventure I have planned out should be interesting. It's not one you'll be expecting.

 

* * *

Some of the most terrible acts ever committed have been inspired by them. We're not dealing with something that wants to conquer or destroy. There's a lot of things you need to get across this universe. Warp drive, wormhole refractors. You know the thing you need most of all? You need a hand to hold.

The Doctor - Fear Her

* * *

Leticia stumbled for breath, as they stopped at the ballroom, the light orchestra music playing. The little she could recall from her old church. Almost all of the guests that Leti saw earlier were in the pews.

_I crashed a wedding pre-reception, with the groom fancying me._ She kept her mind from muttering curses, swapping them out for more her-friendly type of language.

At the same time they entered, an older fair-skinned man entered the room, with a long heavy beard and a curved crucifix hanging heavy around his neck. By all accounts, he was probably the priest.

The so-called Bride was kneeling at the end of the room, on a raised platform. Her calm smile unnerved Leti. She looked back to the Doctor. "Doctor, Please tell me you have this amazing plan that will save the day? Or at least somewhere where we can head off to? A thing that can help?"

The Doctor had a stern cold look on his face. To her shock, a harsh wind started to rattle the windows. She brought herself uncomfortably closer to Nikolai's side. Her heart started to speed up slightly.

"And where should we go, Leti?"

She tried not to stumble with her voice, not when the answer was just outside the door. "He can come with us. There's more than enough space, Doc, bigger  _on_  the inside. It's perfect."

Nikolai started to smile, his line of sight at Leti. Nikolai reached out and took Leticia's hand. "What I've saw of your world, the views, the abundance of tall structures, I'd love nothing more than to explore them, with you."

"That's just one small step, Nikolai. So much more, far ahead to see. I know there is, you should have the chance to see it too."

"I'm not a taxi service." The Doctor said, scoffing at the notion.

"Sorry?" She couldn't hear him well, a droning siren in the distance.

"For one thing, He already left his time, and whatever is going on with the time leak has gotten worse!"

"What makes you say that?"

The Doctor held his finger in the air. "The police siren."

She furrowed her brows. "Yeah, and?"

"So they've just pilfered off from Canada in the 21th century then?" Leti covered her mouth. Now that he mentioned it sounded way to modern for it to be from this time. "What happened with this man crossing over had made things worse. We're a part of the problem, Unless -  _unless_  we seal it, from both ends. Everyone back on their right end."

"There has to be a way." She looked around them. "Choosing between a loveless marriage or being forced into war, God knows where."

The Doctor squared his jaw. "What's wrong with that option? Fighting for your country, small chance of seeing it in the peace time, wars, strife."

_The Time War..._  Leticia started to massage her hands. Her head was tilted upwards by Nikolai. "If you can stay here, with me, I won't be trapped. We can  _be_  happy."

Leti started to trace his hand, wanting to memorized his face as much as possible. "You're trying to live a fairy tale, Nikolai. It's been less than a day since we've known each other. It take  _years_ , to  _really_  know one another."

"We can have time." Nikolai moved away from her, still close enough that Leticia was mindful of the distance and how close he was getting.

The Doctor on her left, Nikolai tempting her on her right. "You know," The Doctor said in a low tone, his voice close to her. "There is something of a  _time_  limit for happy Russian aristocrat marriages." He looked at Nikolai. "How are you getting married?"

"There's a handfasting ceremony that must be done, she insisted on it."

"Handfasting..."

"Extra time, then. " Leticia frowned at the Time Lord. Took a deep breathe. Looked back at the Doctor, steeling herself. "Make time then, time boy."

She walked away, heading up the aisle, ininorging The Doctor's voice. She was face to face with the alien. "I think we got off the wrong foot earlier." She held out her hand. "Leti."

The alien took her hand. "Ingtra. You can still see him you know." Her voice was quiet.

"Excuse me?"

"I heard it was very common for humans to copulate with several partners. It would be punishing if my husband was given restriction on that, I had read his entries."

She narrowed her gaze. "Of what?"

"Of you, he writes of you, such beautiful poetry. It  _would_  be a waste if his muse would  _disappear_  on him."

"You'd save me then junk with the waste, right?"

"You'll die, eventually. When he's bored of you, when you're haggard and disgusting to his eyes. He'll find someone else, humans always do, to redirect their affections."

"I won't." Nikolai was beside her. "I object to this unholy union!"

His father started to stand up, his face redden. "Nikolai, stop making a fool out of yourself!"

Ingtra started to tense noticeably. What might have looked like sweat to the untrained eye, looked like tiny balls of wax trailing down from Ingtra. "You're sure of this Nikolai, throwing your chance at a stable life, for her."

"Not just for her, for me. If I had know your truth, I would have refused outright."

The woman huffed, emitting a low growl that sounded almost demonic. The Doctor showed up next to her, with a torch in his hand. The sweet smell she had emitted, of scented perfumes faded, revealing the deep dark muddy smell of decay. Her true smell.

The Doctor stretched out his arm, pulling Leti and Nikolai back.

"Nikolai, my darling," She attempted to say, but the count's face was full of horror as the Doctor waved the torch closer. Her mouth opened and then kept on opening, until the skin around her mouth began to crack like wax, all over her face. The fake skin started to flake off, blue scales starting to show.

Almost in unison, terrified gasps were heard. Leticia looked on, the victims from the House of Wax remake have nothing on that woman's face.

"If I can not have it, I can still take it!" the woman screamed. "Give me your hand! Give it to me!"

She had by now morphed into their true form: a grotesque flaking alien, their mouth a gaping hole in a pale white and blue face. The creature turned their attention on the panicked crowd. "YOU HAVE NO FUTURE!" They hissed at them. "You will all die! This will all crumble into dust. We know this to be  _truth_!" The alien's voice echoed through the ballroom.

"Go," said the Doctor, five feet away from the Causubus. "Or the humans will rip you to shreds, and you know it."

"You got that right." Leticia looked at the woman, trying to look as self-assured as she could. " _No one_  is going to take your hand tonight."

The creature looked around, as the crowd shrank back. But already the guards were recovering from their initial shock and drawing their swords, and those guests in military uniform were edging closer. The creature looked back at the Doctor, who simply sighed.

"I'll take you in my TARDIS, everything will be sorted, right as-" Before the Doctor could finish the sentence, a large number of men were blocking the main ballroom. To the Doctor's increasing alarm, there was a large amount of Canadian Mounted Police among the crowd.

"What are they?" Nikolai commented.

"They were in the future where we were." Leticia looked up at Nikolai. "Time is smashing together!"

The wind was blowing.

The Doctor closed his eyes, as the world slowed down to a crawl.

* * *

When he opened them, he was back in the TARDIS.

Well, a facsimile of the TARDIS.

"What do we have?" The Doctor moved over towards his two companions; Leticia, who immediately turned to him, and Rose, whose muted red sweater, with the grey long sleeves, back was still to him.

"Processing, Doc. Put a pin in it." The facsimile Leticia, in a sunny yellow sweater with the zipper loose, strongly recommended.

"I've been putting a lot of pins lately." The Doctor turned to her, realizing she's still in her dress from the outside world.

"You should invest in a pin board. Maybe even complete the teacher package and add a few chalkboards, liven the place up. Some candles here and there. Maybe move to wearing leather patches, instead of the leather everything." She adjusted her round bifocals.

A tight smile. "What'll happen now?"

"The leak in time will extend to a critical point where, if not fixed to completion there will be left over scars surrounding this level five planet, Mutter's spiral, and a few light-years beyond. Which will create uncalculated chaos. Which goes without saying, but should be said, if only to fully comprehend this action to the best of ability."

"At least contained to this galaxy, not as bad!"

"You've becoming more optimistic, looks like your search for companions have done you good." Leticia started to shift back in her original position.

"We're not done."

Leticia looked back at him, pushing her glasses back. "Aren't we? However long I will state that the time war is over, it won't truly be for you. Not for a very long while."

He kept quiet.

Leticia firmly walked over to him. "You've gone back to the coordinates several times, for goodness sake. A handful of turns left, and the Lords of Time will have truly fallen. Of course, in your mind, that wouldn't be the worst thing."

"The universe can always find a way to protect itself."

"With time's champion it can." Her ancient eyes roam to his. "And grounding one self in the familier."

"They're better off without me." He said softly.

Leticia raised a hand to his lips, silencing him. "They may be mayflys to you, but as long lived as you are, you need to see through fresh eyes. Not through finding images to entertain your mind. Toronto and Saint Petersburg are colliding. There is only one thing that the Causubus will agree to in a short amount of time. Even if there's a sacrifice to be made. We must soldier onwards and upwards."

The Doctor pressed his lips against Leticia's hand, then grabbed his hand to hold hers, revealing their hands tied by a red ribbon.

"Full of ideas!" The Doctor grinned madly. "Something old, something new!"

She grinned back, matching his mania. "Something borrowed, something... red."

* * *

_Meet me in the TARDIS, I will find a way back to you._

_Don't you fret._

Leticia looked down at the psychic paper, covering her revealing dress up with her jacket. He was going to come back, the TARDIS was here. However long it took. Why didn't he give her the key? He gave Clara the key, well one of the Clara's really early on.

It was a blur, looking back. She saw the Doctor walk up to the alien, all close-close. Far away that Leticia couldn't tell what the Doctor was planning. Next thing she knew, they were gone. She and Nikolai were holding each other as they saw all the chaos around them. She called out for him; in a flash, she felt the paper heat up, revealing the message.

She looked across from the main doors of the palace. Where the second flights of stairs were, Nikolai was comforting his mother, who was silently crying, while the rest of his family, including his father, who looked like he was putting Nikolai through the wringer. His mother went towards his sisters, the flutter of movement caused Nikolai to glance at Leticia.

She slowly waved her fingers at him. Determined, Nikolai broke away from his father, towards Leti. He waved through the departing wedding guests who were trying to rationalize what had just happened before their eyes. They moved just outside the doors, giving them a crumb of privacy from his family.

Leticia hesitantly grabbed his hand. "You should go back to them."

Nikolai's Adam apple moved. "They need a few minutes, everyone will talk of this, all over."

Leticia shook her other hand. "Don't count on that." Perplexed murmured sounds reached them, most of them of a social variety. "I used to think that it was ridiculous for people to dismiss something that happened right in front of them. That it was bad writing. But, after being around, traveling, smelling a very distestable sewer smell right next to a 'informational' library, my mindset has expanded, to say the least."

"You've done amazing things."

"I've seen amazing things, Nikolai.  _Speaking of_ , You have seen me for much longer than I have seen you, haven't you? I had a chat with that thing you were going to wed yourself to. You wrote  _poetry_  about me?"

He smiled. "I have. Several. Only in my journal, I could only suspect she might have been trying to endear herself to me. I've dreamt of you, before I had met you. I envision a radient woman who is capable of much more. A woman who is my equal but beyond her years-"

"I can't take you with me." She interrupted. "I wanted to get it out there, to be clear. You were connected to an event, that seemed to tie you here. I can't stay here either, I have something I need to do, to get back to my own family."

"I understand," He smiled sadly. "I know what I must do here. I know what to fight for now, a better future." He moved closer to her. "Your future."

Reassured by his closeness, Leticia leaned in to press a kiss against his cheek.

He moved only an inch, but it was enough to reach his lips.

She moved her lips cautiously against his.

Nikolai pressed Leti's back, firm and unmoving.

Eventually, they pulled away from each other.

With one last look at each other, they turned around and left in their intended direction.

Nikolai ached to turn around to see her, but it was better this way. She will always be with him.

* * *

Leticia forced herself to look ahead as she saw the TARDIS, her arm posed to knock on the door.

Immediately, the door opened. Without delay, Leticia rushed inside.

Leti looked back at the Doctor, his back to her. She close the door shut, and walked closer to him, struggling with the back of the dress. "What happened to you, Doc?"

"She wanted a hand to hold, I gave her one. We managed to work out some of the details." He turned around, giving her a tight smile. "Where's your future husband? Is he waiting outside the door?"

She blinked a couple of times. "I let him go, probably wasn't going to work out anyway." She gestured at the back of her dress. "Once you build an idea of someone long enough in your own head, it's hard letting that image go when they appear right in front of you. "

The Doctor positioned himself behind her. "You talk like you had experience with that sort of thing."

"Long long time ago, I had a girlfriend. It didn't work out, for more reasons that I want to say were my fault than hers. He- he was the first  _man_  to ever really kiss me." Her mouth twitched. "He'll find somebody. Someone real, tangible. Someone who looks good out of a dress. Someone who actually speaks Russian."

"And you'll find someone, even if it's for a lay. Certain human males are good for just that sort of thing."

Leti smiled despite herself. "Further thing from my mind," She turned towards him, not quite facing him directly. "But thanks for being my future wingman, Doc."

The Doctor grinned. "Don't mention it."

"Fine, I won't tell Rose when we get back." The Doctor was noticeably more still. "We are heading back to her, right?"

He curtly nodded. "We are." He walked over to the control panel. "After I give you a trip to the future. AND my paper back."

Leti pulled out the psychic paper out of her cleavage and handled it over to him. "Somewhere where I won't have to dress up?"

"You might want to have some clothes on."

"I'll come back with a witty retort when I come _back_ , don't leave without me."

"No Marm!" The Doctor's voice echoed into the hallway. He went back to the screen, passing by the bags Leti had bought, typing in two words.

[ROSE TYLER]

* * *

She sniffed as she walked into the hallway, into the open door. She was back in the huge closet room. She shook herself out of her clothes and stood alone in the middle of the room. She walked up stairs and escalators, rows and rows of clothes before. Aching for her holey clothes she had worn for the last five years.

* * *

The Doctor strummed his fingers. The same hand he used for the Handfasting. Over a decade's worth of regenerative energy he won't get back.

Everything was still the same, nothing of significance had changed. There was just something he had to be missing.

He changed the tab to Leticia, who found her way to the wardrobe, slowly walking near the early 2000s clothes. Satisfied that she was safe, he landed the TARDIS back in Canada to tie up some loose ends, not before altering some of the setting for the room Leticia's was in.

* * *

Leticia looked up at the ceiling, or tried, as there isn't a definitive end to the seemingly circular room.

"Well, bigger on the inside, really should have known better." She turned around, shrugging off her dress on the floor. "I really should have know better. He wanted the idea of me, not the real me. No one really wants that."

Her body stopped. "There's going to be someone else, I can't just think about myself. I have to think of them. The universe, timelines." She stopped. "A little chunk of hope, that keeps me going."

* * *

The Doctor finished with the last of details of the apartment when he felt the psychic paper started to heat up. His eyes lit up.

He turned the corner, squinting slightly at the setting sun, heading straight into the TARDIS.


End file.
